The Phantom Retribution
by fffan231
Summary: Sequel to Keep Holding On. We all have to face our future. It is an inevitable path we must walk down in the journey of our lives. But what do you do when your future comes back to haunt you? Danny Sam DxS Dan Phantom
1. Prologue

_Hello! :D_

_First off, I believe I owe everyone an apology for the author's note in the previous version of this story. I accidentally made it harder to understand than intended, and I should have been more specific in my reasons _WHY_ I made these changes. -Smacks head on brick wall.- _

_It won't happen again._

_Anyway, here are the changes and why I did them. In the last Danny Phantom episode 'Phantom Planet,' Danny and Sam became a couple, the entire world learned Danny's secret, and Vlad was knocked off the face of the earth. (Actually, it was more like knocked right in the face with an asteroid while in space. But, you get the point ;)) Plus, the world learned his secret as well. As I wanted 'The Phantom Retribution' to be a sequel to 'Keep Holding On' while having it take place after as many episodes as possible, all of this posed a problem. My reason for wanting it to take place after as many episodes as possible was this: I originally published 'Keep Holding On' (yes, that title was borrowed from my favorite Avril Lavigne song, which the story was based upon :)) before the premiere of 'Urban Jungle' and 'Phantom Planet.' Therefore, none of the previously mentioned incidents existed in 'Keep Holding On,' Vlad was not the Mayor of Amity Park, and Danny did not have ice powers. So, in order for 'The Phantom Retribution' to be a sequel to 'Keep Holding On,' take place after as many episodes as possible, make Vlad the Mayor, and allow Danny to have his ice power, I had to make the series seem as if the last episode was 'Keep Holding On.' Although I'm sure most of you hate math (I'm a nerd, so I love math :P), let's look at it like this:_

_Danny Phantom Series – Phantom Planet + Keep Holding On + The Phantom Retribution How This Story Is Possible._

_Plus, I would love to continue after this story is finished, making it a series of it's own while continuing the show. Only it wouldn't be as fun if the whole world knew of Danny's powers_

_Phew. I hope that explanation was much more clear than the last. Heck, when I read the last one, even _I_ was going _'What?_' And I wrote it! Pretty sad :(._

_So, if you still don't wish to read this because you don't want 'Phantom Planet' to be out of the picture, that decision is yours. I won't blame you, as it is my favorite episode, and I hated doing this in the first place :(. But I did it anyway, as I have been looking forward to this story for nearly a year. But if you join me on this story, I will do my best to give what I claimed it would have: action, comedy, suspense, and fluffy Danny and Sam romance. Every single review is appreciated and anticipated more than you know, and every one will receive a response (except for anonymous reviews. Unfortunately it gives me no way to contact you.) _

_So, if you plan to read, many thanks, and I wish you happy reading! _

_Note: This chapter is more like a prologue._

_**Disclaimer**__: Sadly, I do not now, nor will I ever, own Danny Phantom :(._

**The Phantom Retribution**

"_No fear of death…_

_Only of what you leave behind…"_

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The hand of time flows differently for everyone. Depending on whom is asked, each passing second produces a different sensation.

For some, each tick is quiet, light – life and circumstance are happy and sound. Everything is well contented, time flowing leisurely and comfortably. For others, each toll is loud, hard – troubling or painful happenings and situations make time pass bitterly, slowly.

For him… each tick sent a shiver - a convulsion of rage down his spine. They tolled loudly, ringing in his ears. Or maybe the ringing was so profound because the clock was in his head. It announced each second that passed – each second he'd spent trapped in an inescapable prison, unable to do as his burning desires commanded, things that could only be accomplished outside the tiny prison – like a hard finger stabbing into his ribs, constantly reminding him why he'd been sentenced inside eternally binding iron walls in the first place.

But the jabbing finger was unnecessary in reminding him why he was here. Because he wouldn't let himself forget.

His reign of terror had been halted by the most clichéd event of all ironies, one of the most frequently voiced warnings in history: _Don't let your past come back to haunt you._ It was only a figure of speech, warning people not to make mistakes and choices they'd regret later. But in his case, it was unbelievable how literal it was.

No _situation_ came back to haunt him to remind him of some past mistake; he had no regrets to disturb his plans in the first place. He only wished it would have been that easy. A simple memory would be easy to dispose of.

No. The thorn in his side, the knife to cut off his whole future wasn't his past.

It was his past _self._

In his time, when he was the most powerful being in existence, he became confident. No obstacle that tried to block his path ever delayed him for long. He was always stronger than every single one of them. A single sweep of his hand, and the obstruction would be no more. He came to believe nothing could stop him, nothing that tried to impede his exploits would have the means to bring it to a standstill. Because nothing could stop him. No enemy that came before him couldn't be destroyed or frightened into hiding. Some even allied with him, too afraid to live in the shadows while knowing what their fate would be when he tracked them down.

None could ever hinder his time in power. None could ever sway the inevitable flow of time that lead him to his rightful place as the most powerful and feared creature on earth.

But it was then, only when he believed himself invincible, that the only thing to stop him had been disturbed.

The thread of time had been cut.

He had been cheated. A warning was given to his past self, throwing a wrench into his entire timeline. It was because of one simple warning - one simple choice made by a meddler who had no business in the matter in the first place - that he sat trapped where he was now.

Ever since he had been cursed into the prison known as the Fenton Thermos, Dan Phantom had no power to do anything. Only exist. He could no longer make choices, wreak havoc that once gave his life meaning – he couldn't even escape. All he could do was sit in silence, boiling with hate most vile deep within his being for the ones responsible for it all.

He could still recall the memory as if it had happened only moments before. He could see his young past-self emerging out of nowhere, claiming he would never see this future – Dan's present – happen. He backed his reasoning with a promise made to the ones he loved. What a shameful and weak claim Dan found it to be. Never did he think it would turn out to be enough to destroy his future.

Until it had.

He had to escape. He couldn't bear the constant of his meaningless existence. He had to fulfill his purpose, his desires. He needed to satisfy his undying thirst for destruction. When he wasn't causing some kind of demolition to the city or agony to a worthless human bystander that cowered in fear in his presence, everything was empty. A void – a gaping hole - sat in his chest where his sense of purpose used to reside. He needed something to fill the hole. Just a simple blast of ghost energy obliterating an automobile, or a cackle and a fang-revealing grin that left a mortal shaking in fits of terror would be something.

But escape was beyond him. He'd tried every power in his possession to break free of the iron walls boxing him in, but nothing, not even a dent was left when he fired away in mighty, rage fueled blows. Not even the coveted (at least in his eyes) Ghostly Wail left a single mark against the ecto-coated barrier. And failure after failure only provoked his mind into thoughts of untold wrath, making him call out oaths of revenge in angry roars, his only answers being the ringing echoes of his own voice.

So he would sit, stationary as a statue, chin in his hand, one armed wrapped around his brawny, leather adorned legs. Hour after hour, day after day, time passing him at a speed that eluded him, he pondered how to escape. Many different ideas and formulas would form during his thoughts. But none, no matter how creative or clever were ever enough to break the only barrier standing between him and his true existence. Each time he discarded a plan into the failure pile, his anger scale rose. His body began to shake under the pressure of the blinding frustration.

Before long, his pondering sessions brought forth no new ideas. Instead, he just sat, imagining and contemplating the destruction of those responsible for these inescapable circumstances. How he would torture them slowly, making every waking moment of their existence an agonizing, unbearable nightmare. How he wouldn't cease the onslaught until they were holding onto life at the very end of their pitiful ropes, begging him for death. Only then would he destroy them. These appeasing contemplations of revenge soothed him for a time.

But before long, they weren't enough. Imagining and not doing were intolerably depriving. It was like a lion living off grass. It could keep you alive, but only for so long. The call of the hunt, the unbearable thirst for blood, the natural born need for destruction would soon become the voice in your head that controlled your thoughts, reminding you of your undying needs. It would drive you mad until you answered its call and gave into your desires.

He was beginning to lose control. The straw had piled up one piece at a time, and the one to topple the pile was dangling loosely above. He tried to soothe himself with mental images of the faces of his old victims. He pictured them twisted in terror, the same way they had been during his reign of destruction. All different faces, all different types of fear stared at him through his memories.

The faces stared back at him constantly as he refused to let them elude him. They were the only thing that kept his sanity; that is, as much sanity as a masochistic ghost could muster. The crease in his brow deepened the harder he concentrated, eyes fastened tightly shut, as if they were gripping the images the same way a hand would hold fast to another.

Because these images were all he could see, he began examining them more closely.

He'd been sifting through an array of faces, much like a string of videos, one starting immediately after the other. He'd focused only on the horror reflecting on each face, feeding off the twisted terror like a needed drug. Now, he slowed the videos to about half the regular speed, carefully scrutinizing the differences in the expressions. As the slower paced video dragged along, he could see something he hadn't before.

He played the first video, one of a civilian he had no need, or care, of recognizing. They needed no individual recognition. They were all his prey.

The figure was displayed from the waist up, their back facing the 'camera'. Then, the head snapped around, although appearing deliberately stalled in the slowed video pace, hair swooshing around the face as if underwater. When the eyes met his, and recognition clouded them over as they realized who was standing before them, a specific kind of expression shifted the features. A kind of glaze covered the eyes, as if trying to shield themselves from the prying stare that looked hungrily into their enlarged orbs. The pupils shrank instantaneously, quickly even for the slowed video, until they were no more than slits. The mouth began to open at the same time lines creased the forehead, all in preparation to release a shattering scream.

This, he recognized, was fear of him. The corners of his mouth upturned into a smug, satisfied grin.

The video cut off, and the next one began.

There were two things about this video he hadn't realized before. The first was that he knew who this person was. Not that they held any more importance to him than the others. He simply knew because they were in his past. And, if his plans of revenge worked the way he premeditated, they were in his future as well.

It started off the same as the first video, the bottom of the 'screen' cut off at the waist and showing everything above, the back turned to the onlooker. The head began to turn, much like the first. But the difference was, it did not turn all the way around to look him in the face. It stopped when the eyes were looking somewhere behind the camera to the left.

He had been so wrapped up in feeding off the looks of terror he hadn't even realized that a select number of people in these images hadn't turned to look straight in his direction.

And, once the swiveling raven locks made their way around and revealed the face, he noticed the expression wasn't the same.

This time, a glaze didn't cover the eyes. Instead, the orbs enlarged, and all light shining inside vanished, the same as a candle flame being blown out. When the light rekindled, it was only from a fiery explosion of horror and panic. The pupils grew so large they covered the violet shade of the irises. The creases in the forehead were shallow, but only because all facial muscle was being used to open the mouth. A sharp intake of breath prefaced the arrangement of the mouth, the lips opening and closing in an O formation. As he heard it many times before, he recognized it as a desperate cry of the word 'No.'

He played each of the two different videos once more, studying them as closely as he could. The line creasing his forehead deepened until it pulled his brows down into a V, the corners of his mouth turning down into a hard, puzzled frown. He'd identified the source of the second type of fear the first time he viewed it. There was no confusion there. It was fear of loss. The face looked past him and at someone else in a different direction because they saw someone they cared about on the brink of death.

What puzzled him was why that fear was so intense. In the vault of memories he'd viewed countless times, he hadn't seen a horror more severe. Not even the fear of him had appeared so unbearable. How could anything be more frightening than he? How could the cause of this fear be so much worse than the on of him?

The video ended, but another didn't start. Instead, Dan stared into the sea of darkness behind his eyelids, like staring into a blank TV that had been shut off after an extremely long movie. He couldn't understand – this fear of loss. It was more terrifying than he? How could it?

It didn't take him long to find the answer. All he had to do was sift through a very rarely opened folder in the vault of his memories.

The ones he could still recall from his days as a human.

He remembered feelings. He could identify what emotion a person was going through by studying their face and behavior. He remembered what kinds of mental and physical changes he would go through when emotions used to seize him.

But that was all. He could only _remember_ what it was like to feel; but he could no longer feel. It was like seeing an emotion without sympathy or empathy because you knew nothing of it. It had been that way since the moment he'd given up his human side. He'd first realized it when he'd looked into the face of his human half, just after morphing into the being he was now, cowering and shivering in a corner, staring up at the ghostly nightmare with the fear Dan craved swallowing his eyes.

Dan could tell what the human boy was feeling; because he recognized it. He could still remember what an emotion_ looked _like. But his old instincts – the ones that would have sympathized with the poor creature and felt the same pain along with it – were gone.

Instead, he had acted on his new instinct and destroyed the mortal with little effort.

He could remember emotion – he could remember the effects it had on people and the ties it made that held people together. But he couldn't understand _why_.

Clearly, as he had seen after examining the different fears in the videos of memories, the fear of loss was much more excruciating than the fear of him. He remember why it was so painful; because of the emotional ties. When an emotion bonded two people together, it became like a strong, invisible chord. When that chord was severed – when the two were separated, whether it be by circumstance or death – it had the same effect as a choice had on Dan's timeline.

It destroyed.

Dan clenched his teeth with gradually increasing pressure, setting his jaw in a hard square. A shake slowly racked his frame, eyes still staring into the sea of black. He couldn't understand. If this pain was so unbearable, if the severing of this emotional tie had the power to destroy, why did people allow those ties to form? Why become so attached – so dependant - on something that would bring the worst pain imaginable when it was gone?

A sheen of sweat dampened his face as he began to heave in deep breaths, his shaking body increasing in convulsions. Mortals were like _leeches_ - attaching themselves to something so delicate and living off of it like there was no other way to stay alive. It made him _sick_. _They_ made him sick. They were a twisted kind, one he was glad he no longer had any birth ties to; not after he'd willingly given up that leeching, human side of his.

He had been so wrapped up in his rage he hadn't even noticed how his body began to convulse. He was shaking so violently, his form was almost a blur. His eyelids were squeezed shut, flashes of red light exploding against the darkness. Everything since he had been sentenced in this metal _thing_ suddenly crashed down on him at once; the inability to escape, the failures that followed, the memories of the past he held onto for survival, the realization that something in this world caused more fear than he, the truth behind the emotionally dependant and _weak_ leeches that called themselves humans.

They needed to be destroyed. They were sick leeches, feeding off of what they claimed was the most precious thing in life, yet it was the source of their ultimate demise. But he couldn't escape. There was no way to get out, no way to exterminate the parasites that plagued the outside world.

In an instant, it all dropped on top of him like a mountain of boulders crashing onto his head.

A fire exploded in the darkness behind his eyes.

In an instantaneous, involuntary motion, Dan was on his feet in a blur, arms raised, head facing the ceiling, mouth wide open in a blood-curdling shriek.

It was like his anger had taken a physical form. Crimson shockwaves flew from his body at every angle, like multiple lightning bolts flying out of a bursting black sky. The aftershock of sound was identical to a crack of thunder, raising the volume as the bolts slammed into the metallic sides of the thermos. Dan didn't even know of the power that rolled off of his body like a storm. He could only prolong his shriek of anger, only seeing the wall of fire that burned behind his eyes.

When the bolts crashed into the walls of the Thermos, the effects were instantaneous. The tips of the blood-colored streaks ripped through the metal as effortlessly as a thunderbolt would reduce a tree trunk into splinters on contact. As the walls were barraged on all sides, the entire prison shattered as easily as a thin sheet of glass, with a sound of the like.

The length of the scream was unknown to Dan; it was impossible to discern an amount of time during his state of rage. But he had noticed when a physical change came on as suddenly as the horrific outburst.

The first thing he noticed was the wall of fire; it suddenly disappeared as quickly as a candlewick being smothered. The next was that all was quiet, signifying the silencing of his cry. The next was the instant change in his body. It had been so hot, so tense during his cry; his shaking muscles had flexed to their limits, his tight skin shining in a thick sheen of sweat.

Now, his strength had been sapped in the time it took for a balloon to pop. Every muscle had gone lax and become sore, searing with an unbearable, burning pain. The sweat on his skin had gone cold, his lungs frozen in his chest.

For a prolonged moment, his deadened body was still. Then he fell forward, landing hard against a cold, iron floor.

But he never lost consciousness. He lay on his stomach, his cheek pressed against the cold iron, lungs working in heaving, convulsing breaths like a fish out of water. Not a single inch of his body wasn't searing with agony. Muscle spasms wracked his frame, pulsing every time his heart wrenched a beat. Gasps and cries rang out of his lips with every forced breath. To an onlooker, he would have appeared to be having a seizure.

He couldn't count the minutes – or hours – that dragged on as his body wracked with horrific convulsions. There was nothing in his mind to concentrate on, to distract him from the pain. He became a slave to it, feeling nothing but the spasms and shivers that assaulted him.

He wasn't sure how long it had taken him to realize that the convulsions had begun to numb. He may have blacked out for a short time, although he was unsure. While staring at the insides of his eyelids, he could feel the slow recovery his body had been taking.

He body had become still, no longer seizing, other than the occasional muscle spasm that made a limb twitch. His breathing had steadied immensely, exhaling normally and inhaling with minimal sharpness. His skin was tight and damp with cold sweat, the searing pain dulled into a persistent soreness that pounded in his ears with each heartbeat. A dull throb assaulted his head in rhythm with his pulse, but he had been released from the chains of agony, allowing him to try to put the events into check.

He wasn't sure what had happened. He accessed his memories and tried to play the most recent back, looking for clues as to the cause of the sudden incident. He remembered how he'd been viewing old memories, learning of the different types of fear and their causes. How he realized that there was a fear worse than one of him, one that revealed humans to be emotional leeches.

The echo of anger pulsed weakly in his brain. Dan winced suddenly as a small flame licked into the black of his eyes, only to disappear as quickly as it came.

Dan's breathing slowed as a realization began to slowly trickle into his thoughts. When he'd felt his failures and the sick behavior of humans crash down on him, he'd become angry. More so than he'd ever been before. It had burned inside him, desperately trying to burst out of him like magma rocketing out of a volcano. Then his body acted of its own accord, leaping to its feet and screaming, knowing it as an action for releasing pent up rage.

But something else had happened. A massive wall of fire had burst into his vision, and loud sounds had cracked all around him. He'd never even opened his eyes to see before his screaming suddenly stopped, seemingly in the same instant it had started.

His eyebrows and lips twitched as he pulled them down in a shallow frown. What had caused all the noise?

Slowly, breathing coming in steady gasps, Dan's eyelids slid open. Multiple blinking was required to clear the fuzzy vision before him. When everything came into sharper focus, it took him a moment to realize why his surroundings confused him.

The closest thing in his line of vision was a metallic floor, tiny slivers of metal scattered all along its surface. The floor only stretched a few short feet before ending in a jagged edge, a swirling emerald and onyx-colored sky just beyond it. His eyes moved upward, trailing the jagged edge of eye level floor. He found the same results just above his head, the only difference being that the floor ended just inches in that direction before the multi-colored sky began.

He stared, eyes focused on one of the green swirls that waved around slowly as if it was being viewed under gently disturbed water. Slow seconds ticked by before he remembered it was the walls of the Thermos he should be seeing. His breathing paused as confusion fell away and realization took its place.

He wasn't in the Thermos anymore.

He was in the Ghost Zone.

More time ticked by as he lay still, eyes widened in shock. How had this happened? How had he finally escaped after so many failed attempts? What had he done differently?

He blinked for the first time in minutes, his lungs forcing in a needed breath of air. He tried to piece the events together, trying to uncover this phenomenon. When the anger had crashed down on him, the following events blurred in a second. He found the memory and played it back in his head, searching for something he may not have noticed before, something that would answer his questions. The shriek was clear; shrill and raged. The wall of fire was clear, burning like a scorching inferno.

But there was something more than that. Something other than anger had been released. It was more like the anger had… rolled off of him. In a physical sense.

Like a power.

The possibility sent invigorating jolts through Dan's veins. His eyes stared blankly ahead, his lips gradually turning upward into a maliciously ecstatic grin.

He had found the power to escape. It had been his own power, fueled by rage that had destroyed the prison. The grin gracing his features became smug, revealing pointed teeth as it grew.

A newfound elation pumped through his body like an intoxicating endorphin, giving him the strength to move his arms and place his palms against the floor at his sides. His head expanded with pride, taking up too much room for him to notice any pain.

With a surprisingly small amount of effort, he pushed himself up with his hands, pulling his feet underneath him and lifting himself up to full height. A short wave of dizziness made him sway for a moment before numbing away along with all other pain, leaving him to bask in the glow of pride that smothered him. He turned his head slowly from left to right, examining the extensive damage his new power had managed. As his face turned slowly across the room, the malicious and prideful smile threatened to split his face in two.

The domain that had housed his prison had been made mostly of iron. His head swelled with unbearable smugness as he realized almost the entire thing had been destroyed. It had shattered into microscopic pieces just as the Thermos had; the only bit of structure that remained was the small peninsula of floor that stretched away from the only remaining corner of the room that stood behind him, left and right walls still attached and reaching as far as a few short feet before ending in jagged edges like the flooring. The ceiling was completely gone. The only evidence left of the missing pieces of the obliterated room were the tiny metal slivers that covered the floor like sand, and the bits that floated lazily in the air like dust.

Once he had examined the room by turning full circle, his chest had swelled, his wide grin unchanged. He'd been the one to cause this obliteration, gaining back his long sought after freedom in the same turn. The aura of power he'd once basked in, the one that told him he was the most powerful being on earth came over him; his sense of purpose had returned.

His only regret; not knowing what his new power looked like.

Despite the adrenaline that pumped through his system, giving him the strength to stand, he knew he was not completely whole. The new power, even in all its greatness, demanded quite a price. He could feel the subtle pulls on his muscles, reminding him that his body was still drained and in need of much rest. And he was still unsure exactly how to summon this power. It couldn't be as easy as summoning a Ghost Ray. And much practice would be needed so his limits could be set. His smile finally faded and a short wave of anger rushed through him as he realized this power tested the limits of his once assumed 'unlimited strength.'

As the anger pulsed through his system and faded away like a passing shadow, Dan was taken off guard by a sudden change. The colors in his vision suddenly flickered like an old television screen, altering quickly between normal color and multiple hues of red. To an onlooker, his eyes appeared to be shifting from normal red ones to orbs giving off a low wattage of crimson light. At the same time, a prickle poked at his gloved hand, and he lifted it swiftly to look. Through his flickering vision, he could see small sparks dancing around his palm and fingers, like the ones caused by static shock. Whether his vision was normal or bathed in crimson, the sparks remained red.

As soon as the anger had passed, his vision went back to normal, and the sparks disappeared. He stood still for a few moments, examining his hand, moving his fingers ever so slightly.

Slowly, the realization brought another toothy smile to his lips. Without even trying, he'd found the key to the power;

Anger.

Eyes still on his hand, Dan sifted through his memories before selecting one that caught his eye. It was the one of the girl from his past, the one that had ignored his presence and let her fear be that of loss.

Dan's face became hot.

_Leech._

Suddenly, all colors in his vision altered to countless shades of red, the sparks reappearing in larger numbers in his hands, this time dancing up the length of his arm.

The smile that graced his lips was no less than monstrous. He could now summon the power at his own will. The only thing left would be the test of his limits.

He closed his hand into a tight fist around the sparks. They wriggled through the cracks in his fingers and continued their dance routine around the shape of his balled up hand.

He would find the ones who imprisoned him and use his newfound power and knowledge to bring them their well-earned suffering. Even when he wasn't the most feared thing, he knew how to be the maker of the thing most feared.

Retribution was at hand.

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_If you're reading this sentence, that means you actually finished the chapter. A big thanks to you, valued reader!_

_I look to entertain and please readers with my work and hope I've accomplished that so far. I will update as often as I can and look forward to seeing you again!_

_Chapter Playlist:_

'Numb'-_Linkin Park_

'In The End'-_Linkin Park_

'Whisper'-_Evanescence_

_What's a chapter playlist? If it's not already obvious, it is a list of songs that inspire each chapter of my writing. Although I don't require music to write, certain music can sometimes set a certain mood and allow the correct feel to enter a particular event in a story. I'll post one for each chapter. Kudos for reading!_


	2. The Beginning

In the darkness, the only thing that lay before his eyes, he was faintly sure he was asleep. But more likely was he stuck in the realm between consciousness and unconsciousness. As the body does naturally, the realm of wakefulness pulled at him like an invisible hand grasping one side of his brain. He fought against it, trying desperately to pull himself back into the realm of the unconscious, knowing the closer he was pulled to awake, the more intense the pain that flooded his body. He knew this meant that pain awaited him upon awakening, and he was reluctant to allow it.

He was trapped, unwilling to welcome the waking world, where the agony was sure to crash down on him. Presently, he couldn't remember why he was in pain, as his focus was concentrated solely on staying asleep in order to avoid it.

But as nature intends, the pull to the world of the cognizant won over the desire for rest. As the last bits of sleep fell away, pain took its place like a mighty flood.

The agony spread throughout Danny's body faster than he fathomed. Like a large injection, the sore, pinching stabs began in his head and spread through his veins, swelling to the ends of his limbs. Unbeknownst to himself, he winced, eyebrows meeting in a pained grimace. The aching stabs lingered, casting blotches of yellow in the blackness behind his eyelids. With each blotch that exploded and disappeared like mini fireworks, a sting poked at his brain. It was then that he remembered why he was in pain. Although the Micro-Ghost had left his body, it had taken much of his energy with it, making it hard to fight against the pains it had inflicted on him when he'd disobeyed it's vile demands. The aches were his body's way of fighting the draining, 'infection'- like state the Micro-Ghost had left him in.

Although unpleasant, it turned out it was worth it.

After seconds that felt like minutes, the pains ebbed into dull aches, and his face muscles relaxed as he breathed a freeing sigh, lying still while his head was cleared of all blotching and darkness overshadowed once again.

Danny took inventory of his body once consciousness crept its way back in. Taking place of the awful stabs he'd experienced last time he'd awakened was full-body muscles sores- much like the feeling you get the morning after a vigorous, extended workout. Although an uncomfortable and motion-hindering feeling, it was welcome in comparison.

As each of his five senses reactivated one by one, his ears began picking up faint sounds. He thought for a moment he must be underwater the way they sounded, until his hearing cleared up and he recognized one as a short, soft moan. He eventually recognized it as himself, involuntarily groaning over his aches. The second sound he identified as a female voice to his left, softly speaking his name. He commanded his eyelids to open to see who it was, being unable to recognize it with hearing alone.

After a few failed attempts and temporary blur once the lids finally lifted, his vision finally fell back in his control. He turned his head toward the unidentified voice, ignoring the strain in his neck, and saw his sister Jazz sitting in a chair positioned close to his bed.

"You're awake!" she said, almost squeaking in her familiar, high-spirited voice. Danny was surprised he hadn't recognized it sooner. She smiled big, showing all her perfect teeth, reaching out and laying her hand over his. She rubbed it motherly, scooting her chair closer to his bed with her other hand. She settled back in her seat when it was as close as it would get, touching the edge of his bed.

"Jazz…" was all Danny could manage, chest expanding and contracting with the breath needed to speak. He blinked, eyes squinting as they burned as if sleep deprived. His mind still being a bit sluggish, he couldn't think of what he knew he should be asking.

"Oh my gosh, we've been so worried!" Jazz began, relief and ecstasy flooding her voice. "I almost had a heart attack after Sam and Tucker told me what happened! You're lucky they were around to help!" She prattled on, words flowing out of her mouth quickly and eagerly as if she were spilling long-kempt information to a close friend rather than updating her bed-ridden brother. She told of the difficult improvising she'd had to perform to keep their parents in the dark. How she had to convince their mother a trip to the hospital was unnecessary, that he was just sick with some weird, weeklong bug that was going around. Although there was expected skepticism from both parents, Jazz managed to dissuade them. She'd been covering for Danny so long it was becoming a talent she wore proudly.

It was then that Danny realized how long she said he'd been out of it; he could barely believe he'd been in sleep for a whole week.

Attempting to digest all the information his sister had spewed so soon after waking from his coma-like state, Danny laid his head back on the pillow, turning his head toward the ceiling and closing his eyes, dulling the burn. He inhaled and exhaled, and was relieved the motion wasn't painful. He still felt sore, just the same as sleeping too long during a long fought cold.

Danny felt Jazz's other hand join the other, grasping his and tightening her grip. "Danny?" Her voice had abruptly changed from euphoric to concerned as her brother looked away. "What's the matter?"

He didn't answer right away, trying to sort his thoughts. With a little effort, still being a bit lethargic, he made a mental list of issues that needed approaching.

Avert parents' suspicions: check.

He turned his head to Jazz as the next item on the list came to mind.

"How many ghost attacks have there been?" His voice was scratchy with fatigue, but the words were clear.

Jazz blinked once, looking at him as if that wasn't what she'd expected him to say. She shook her head as if disapproving, but there was a proud smile accompanying it. "You're barely awake after knocking on death's door and you're all business." A chuckled followed the sentence.

Danny was in no mood or mindset to respond to the tease/compliment. Instead, he just looked at her until she stopped shaking her head and looked at him.

Jazz leaned forward a bit, the smile still shadowed on her face. "You can relax," she assured. "There were only a couple little scares. Nothing Sam and Tucker couldn't take care of."

The mention of their names brought the next item to mind. Despite his irregular state of mind, he berated himself for not asking sooner. "Are they alright?" Strength was returning to his voice, erasing the scratch and allowing the echo of genuine concern. He tried to remember when he'd last seen them.

Jazz's brow creased in confusion. "Yeah, they're fine. Don't you remember telling them all the stuff they told me?"

Danny paused. He sorted his scattered thoughts and searched for the memory. After a minute of backtracking through his most recent memories, he found the last one he had of Sam and Tucker. Yes, they were in his room after bringing him back from the Ghost Zone, waiting eagerly for him to wake. He remembered telling them everything that happened; what it had been like to endure the Micro-Ghost's orders and punishments and how he felt when he'd finally been freed. How tired he was when they had to leave, how much he looked forward to resting. How Tucker left first and left him to talk with Sam.

_Sam._ Her name aroused something inside him. It was like a small flame, like a lit candle, burning warmly deep inside his chest. The memory of her sitting next to him in his room suddenly became clearer, sharper. He could see her face, how it was carefully guarded, and how her eyes avoided his. Faint worry lines creased her brow as she subconsciously bit her bottom lip. Seeing her face was like kindling for the fire inside him. It began to burn brighter and warmer, expanding and occupying a larger space inside his chest.

He suddenly became very aware of himself in that moment. It was like all the fog in his head had dissolved and someone had slapped him awake. He was fully reminded of the feelings that had lied asleep inside him, temporarily forgotten. The feelings he had for Sam. The feelings he had revealed to her when he thought he'd never see her again, before he'd left to face his fate for the sake of the ones he loved. The feelings that were now burning inside him like a rising fire.

The memory was still playing, un-pausing like a film. Sam's face relaxed, no longer biting her lip, but her eyes were full of anxiety. And fear. He struggled to remember why, thinking quickly as if he were trying to guess the ending to a movie just before it was revealed. The anticipation put his head in a high.

Her eyes finally met his, and the fire inside him flared. Flames lashed out and filled the vacant area of his chest, licking the sides as it tried to burst through the confines. It was like his torso had been engulfed in this fiery inferno of emotions and replaced his internal organs, leaving him with no lungs. He couldn't breathe.

He became dizzy when her violet shaded lips parted.

"_Because I love you too."_

"Danny!"

Sam disappeared and the flame was put out like the pilot light being turned off on a stove. It shrank impossibly fast and went out in a small 'puff'.

Danny blinked once, clearing his head of the temporary and sudden trance and looked at his sister. She had her hand wrapped around his shoulder like she'd been shaking him. Her eyes were tinted with concern and her brow was creased with lines of frustration. When she'd said his name, her tone implied she'd already said it multiple times.

"What?" was all Danny could manage. He hadn't been out of the trance long enough to remember what had happened before and why he'd been in it in the first place.

Jazz's frown altered from frustrated to concerned. "Are you ok?" she asked tenderly. Having no idea what had just been going through his head, she was frightened as she saw him space out so suddenly after she'd asked a simple question.

Danny took a quick inventory of himself before he answered. When the fire went out, his lungs came back, allowing him to breathe normally. The sudden onslaught of the trance shocked him out of his groggy state, which cleared his head. The only things that remained were the aches that extensively covered his body.

"Yeah… I'm ok."

Jazz was doubtful of his answer as she scrutinized his face, one side of her mouth upturned thoughtfully. His eyes were wide with shock, his breathing was a bit heavy and small beads of sweat were gathering on his forehead. She began thinking he was in no condition to talk.

"Maybe you should just rest for now." It sounded like a concerned order rather than a suggestion. "I have to get back to school anyway."

Danny's head was racing with thoughts on his sudden memory daze, so he nodded once in agreement. His body was still sore, but he'd had to function daily with discomforts before; it came with the territory of being a half-ghost superhero. He'd agreed with Jazz, not to physically recover, but so he could have some private time to think.

Jazz nodded in return, patted his hand comfortingly with a reassuring smile and stood to leave. She paused when she reached the door, hand on the knob as she turned to face him. "Sam and Tucker have been trying to see you all week, but mom and dad wouldn't let them." She half-smiled guiltily. "I guess I did too good of a job convincing them you were sick; they said no visitors in case you were contagious. Anyway, want me to tell them they can come and see you after school today?"

_School;_ a mundane thing that hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He turned his eyes to the wall opposite his bed, a knot forming uncomfortably in his stomach. Was he ready to see her? Their feelings were already in the open; but where was he planning on going from there? It was impossible for their relationship to be the same; which he was very grateful for. No more hiding feelings, no more fearing rejection. They could just be _together_.

But how would he do that? He'd only known how to be a friend to her.

The notion seemed silly almost as soon as he'd thought it. His love for her was deep as a bottomless well. It set his insides on fire, as he'd learned just minutes earlier. And being her best friend was to his advantage. This wasn't an unrequited crush between two people who didn't know each other; it was a mutual love between two people who already knew and understood each other on a deep level. He had no reason to fear anything. He knew her and would know what she'd want.

The uncomfortable knot uncoiled into a warm sensation that filled his middle. A comforting and excited anticipation filled his head. A goofy half-smile decorated his face as he turned his head to his sister. "Yeah, that sounds great."

Jazz stared blankly for a moment, confused by his constantly warping behavior. Instead of indulging herself the question of why, she simply nodded and said, "Ok, I'll tell them to come over." She left the room and closed the door behind her, theories running rampant through her head.

Danny laid his head back on his pillow, closing his eyes and breathing a contented sigh. He was eager to see Sam now, although he couldn't deny the inevitable twist of unease in the pit of his stomach. This no longer represented the fear of rejection, but rather a mix of excitement and nervousness. He needed to be prepared when she arrived, and he still wasn't sure _how._

Danny opened one eye to peek at the clock on his bed stand. It read 12:33, which gave him roughly three hours to get ready. Not only did he need to be mobile, but he also needed to plan how to go about asking the formal question he'd been desiring to ask her, and the one that would break away the last bits of broken ice.

She would like him to formally ask her; that much he knew. The proper way to go about it was the current question. As he tried to imagine it, he realized there wasn't much he could _plan_. Something like this would have to play out on its own, which he had no doubt it would go well. But he needed some way to make sure it was special.

Sam was one of a kind, definitely a diamond in the rough. She was unique and didn't desire the same things other girls did. She was an individual who didn't want to be pampered with special gifts or have her books carried for her. But he also knew these would be gestures she'd accept if they had meaning. A core meaning that presented something deep and significant.

Upon this deliberation, his eyes opened and a bright smile colored his face. Something from _him_ would have meaning to her. She would accept a special trinket from him.

And he knew exactly the one.

There were only two problems with this idea. The first was that the ring he had in mind, the class ring engraved with her name that his father had given to him, was currently somewhere in Sam's house. The second was, even if he decided he was going to risk entering her room without her permission, would he even be able to? He hadn't even tried to _stand_ yet, let alone go ghost and _fly._

His body still ached, no different than the morning after a vigorous workout, but he was confident it was nothing that should incapacitate him. He started by throwing his comforter off his body, noting someone had changed him as he was wearing pajamas, and lifted himself into an upright position. The muscles in his back stretched uncomfortably and he couldn't keep himself from grimacing. It was unpleasant, but undoubtedly bearable.

The muscles in his legs protested similarly when he placed his feet on the floor and stood. At first, they wobbled like Jell-O and his head began to spin dizzily. Standing after being in a coma-like state for a week made this an expected reaction. It only took a few seconds for the dizziness to dissolve and leave everything clear again. Danny slowly lifted his arms above his head and experimentally stretched. It strengthened the feeling in his legs so they felt solid again, but his back and arms began throbbing. He winced as he lowered his arms and took a deep breath. The muscles pulsed for a few seconds before the throbbing ebbed.

All in all, he was quite satisfied. At least he was mobile.

Danny walked toward his door, taking the first steps carefully. He found it easy, as long as he shortened and slowed his stride just a bit. He opened the door and walked into the hall, intent on seeing his parents. He thought it best to let them know he was awake and would need some privacy to get dressed. That way, they wouldn't walk into his room and find him gone when he left to find the ring.

He made it down the stairs using the handrail for support. Upon seeing the living room, he found it strange he'd been asleep for seven days. He felt like he'd just been in this room the day before.

Just then, he was aware of the voices that echoed from the kitchen just around the corner. He heard the door to the garage shut, then the sound of hurried footsteps that soon entered the living room. His parents stopped short upon seeing him standing by the stairs. He gave them a genuine half-smile, which they returned with big, toothy ones.

"Danny!" Danny's mother Maddie exclaimed. Her voice was saturated in maternal relief and joy. She opened her arms wide and hurried over to him, closing him in a close but gentle embrace. She kissed the top of his head before releasing him, keeping her hands on his shoulders and lowering her face to his level (which wasn't far, he was getting taller). "How are you feeling?" she asked, an unrelenting smile decorating her face. Danny's father Jack was right behind her, watching his son with relief in his eyes and a joyous, goofy grin across his face.

"I'm fine," Danny answered honestly. "Just a little sore."

Maddie's eyes softened affectionately as she brushed some of the hair out of his face with her fingers. "You had us worried sick, honey."

"Good to have you back, son," Jack said. Even with his voice retaining its comical tone, it was thick with emotion.

Danny internally flinched; he constantly forgot how much his well being mattered to them and how is pain affected them. But they were part of the reason he chose to fight. He would protect them along with all the others he loved.

And seeing their devoted faces all for him like this reminded him why.

Maddie placed the palm of her hand over Danny's forehead. Her mouth turned down in a slight frown. "You're still a little warm. Let me take your temperature, then we can get you something to eat."

Danny knew he must have been famished, having no idea whether or not he'd ingested anything in the past week, but the nerves and excitement left his stomach slightly uneasy.

"Not now. Maybe later when I get back."

Maddie's brows met in confusion. "Get back?"

A flicker of panic burst in Danny's chest. "From- the shower," he quickly recovered. "I want to take a shower."

"Oh," Maddie responded, completely convinced. "At least let me take your temperature, then you can go ahead."

Danny nodded as his mother went to fetch the thermometer.

She hesitantly allowed him to stay out of bed after finding his temp a single degree above normal. It was gradually wearing off and she decided allowing him to get back into the swing of things would make him good as new. Danny entered the bathroom at the end of the hall, deciding to act on the shower excuse. He felt slightly chilled thanks to the echo of the fever and decided it would be a good idea to be as fresh and clean as possible for Sam and Tucker's visit. He was glad he'd made the decision as soon as the hot water rained down on his body. The heat relaxed his muscles and released some of the tension, reducing the aches into dull discomforts.

He dried himself with a towel after shutting the water off, but only to keep his mother from knowing he didn't actually need it when she collected the laundry. After hanging it up on the wall rack, he used his intangibility to dry himself completely, the water dropping right off and landing on the shower floor with a 'sploosh.'

He couldn't help but smile. It had been a week since he'd used his powers for daily routine or any other means. Strange that he was almost relieved to see he still had them.

After dressing in normal attire of baggy blue jeans and white t-shirt, Danny went back to his room and locked the door behind him.

Depending on the reason for the transformation, he had a different feeling every time he readied to go ghost. The motive this time sent a nervous wave of enthusiasm through his middle. He felt slightly daring, yet guilty to sneak into Sam's room. But he also felt excited, nervous and eager to please her with the ring. The mix of emotions seemed overwhelming, but a smile still crept across his face.

It was all for Sam.

Activating the command in his mind, a flash of light briefly brightened his room as his transformation commenced, beginning at his middle with a ring that split in two, one traveling up and the other down, altering his clothes to the familiar gray and black jumpsuit. Gray boots garbed his feet below as his black hair turned white above, the hues of his eyes adapting a sharp green in place of the deep blue. A very soft, ghostly glow faintly covered his body, completing the phantom form.

He lifted one of his gloved hands and examined it, twisting it around and back again. Another soft smile made an appearance on his face. It felt so normal, like the long gap between now and the last time he transformed didn't exist. Everything felt the same.

Except the flame that now burned eternally in his heart.

He launched himself off the floor, phasing through his window and flew toward Sam's house, flying over the buildings to get there faster. He flew with ease, his aches dulled into almost unnoticeable discomforts that didn't impede his flight patterns. He vaguely noticed that nothing had changed during his absence, the town below no more busy or empty than usual, soft sunlight beating down from above. He reached his destination in seconds, Sam's house being only a few short blocks away.

He adapted invisibility as he hovered by her bedroom window just in case her parents happened to be home. He hesitated at first, a needle of guilt penetrating the center of his chest. Entering Sam's room without permission felt like an invasion of her privacy. Despite his innocent intentions, would she be so quick to forgive him?

Yes. He was sure she would.

He phased through her window and black curtains, placing his feet carefully on the floor to limit the noise of his entry. It was considerably dark, the curtains being drawn and the wall paint being a deep, dark purple. He summoned an ecto plasmic glow around his hand to give some light, soon after spotting a lamp on her nightstand. He walked around the bed and turned it on, expelling the green glow afterward. It would be better to find a lit lamp than a floating, ethereal glow if someone happened to walk in.

He'd been in Sam's room a couple of times previously, not to mention seeing it a few times while talking to her on a WebCam, so he knew the layout pretty well. It felt strange now, however, as it was the first time he'd been in there without her. The needle buried itself deeper in his chest, but he ignored it. He was doing nothing she wouldn't understand.

Thinking of the nightstand as one of the most likely places to keep a ring, Danny opened the small top drawer at his waist. There wasn't much inside; a small pocket journal lay on the left, a mechanical pencil tucked inside the spiral binding. He looked away immediately, no intention whatsoever in invading her privacy in such a way.

The journal was instantly forgotten anyway when he laid eyes on what was placed on the right side. The ring he came for was there, easily recognized. But the photo underneath it was what had caught his eye so instantly.

He reached inside with both hands, grasping the ring in one palm and holding the picture in the fingers of the other. He pulled both items out of the drawer, his closed hand falling to his side and the other lifting the picture closer to his face.

He'd seen many pictures of himself and Sam. He had an album full of them, Tucker snaps along with them, in his room. But he'd never seen this one before. He didn't even remember it being taken. Rightly so, as both pairs of eyes in the picture were closed.

It was taken in Sam's basement theater, dark in the background but the bright light of a movie playing on the giant screen brightened the unknowing human subjects. Danny was seated at the far end of the couch, leaning back with his arm draped over the armrest, the other in his lap. His head was leaning in the opposite direction of the armrest, his cheek lying on the top of Sam's head, who lay with her legs sprawled across the remainder of the couch with her hands in her lap, her head leaned against Danny's shoulder. Both were sound asleep, unaware they were being photographed.

Danny stood frozen, eyes glued to the picture in his hand. Tucker had obviously been the photographer, being the only other one at these get-togethers and the only one not in the photo. But when had it been taken? It appeared recent, Sam and himself looking no different than they did now. His eyes strayed to the coffee table in the bottom left corner of the picture, where he spotted the case to the DVD 'Blood Bath 3: The Final Spill' lying among the mess of snacks and candy wrappers. They'd gone to Sam's house to watch that film just barely a month ago.

Small frown lines decorated Danny's face as he recalled that night. He did recall dozing with Sam seated next to him, but he had no memory of her being _that_ close. He also remembered being the only one on the couch when he awoke the following morning. How had the close position happened? Was it an accident? Did Sam lean against him purposely after he'd fallen asleep? If Tucker had snapped the photo and Sam had it in her room, that meant Danny was the only one who didn't know about it. Why?

The possibilities sent a mess of emotions spiraling in his chest. Maybe she came so close on accident and Tucker had taken the picture and later teased her with it, in which she took it from him or he gave it to her. Or maybe she did it on purpose, Tucker snapped the picture, teased her with it and she took it from him so Danny wouldn't see it.

Either way, she kept it tucked away in this drawer, with the ring that was always meant for her lying on top.

He felt a surge of affection and gratitude to know it meant so much to her. A pang of guilt joined the mix as he realized this could have been hurting her. He felt like a coward for not speaking up on his feelings for her sooner. She was suffering in silence, just as he had been.

But knowing the feelings had been mutual the entire time made all his doubts about her feelings melt away. He meant just as much to her as she did to him. Based on how infinitely deep his love was for her, he knew he had nothing to fear.

A lovesick smile tugging one side of his mouth, he placed the picture back in its place and closed the drawer. He tightened his grasp around the ring, the other half of his mouth turning up to match the other. Switching the lamp off, he made his way to the window and phased out, heading straight back to his house, phasing into his room and converting to human form once his feet touched the floor. He unlocked the door before lying back on his bed, holding the ring between both thumbs and forefingers. He examined the gold band as it gleamed in the sun that shone through his window.

An unrelenting, adoring smile adorned his face as he ran a thumb over the cursive letters engraved inside the band, waiting patiently for _Sam_ to wear it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(Sighs) Fluff like Cotton Candy.

I apologize for the long delay on this chapter. I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for reading :).


	3. The Perfect Time

Danny was sure he'd memorized every detail of Sam's ring. He'd been turning it in his fingers for an hour and spotted just about every aspect and flaw. He assumed his dad kept it in a safe place over all these years, as it appeared fairly new. The teal, round jewel gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight and the gold band was free of marks, other than Sam's name and a minuscule scratch just under the M that no one would notice unless they looked as closely as he had. He didn't know much about jewelry, being a teenage boy with no desire to decorate his body in such a way. Even so, he knew this ring was perfect; he could easily imagine it around Sam's finger.

He moved his eyes from the ring long enough to check the clock, confirming that he'd been waiting for only an hour, with two more to spare. A nervous sense of nausea still lingered in his stomach, but he found himself beginning to get impatient. The clock was simply ticking too slowly for him.

He slid off his bed and began pacing, turning the ring between his index finger and thumb behind his back. He'd planned to play this by ear, but shouldn't there be at least _some_ preparation involved? Was there anything he might be overlooking?

He answered that question almost right away. All things considered, the moment would be better if he and Sam were alone. There'd be less pressure. He wanted to see Tucker too, but at least when presenting Sam with the ring, he wanted it to be just the two of them. If they were both coming for a visit soon, would the ring have to wait?

He paused, standing in the middle of his room, eyes focused on the carpeted floor. He couldn't wait. And after seeing the picture in Sam's room, after seeing the way she'd kept it like a treasure, he knew it wasn't fair to make her wait either. There had to be another way to see her privately instead of having them both come over at the same time.

He lifted his head as the idea hit him. All he had to do was postpone the visit. He could go to school, tell Jazz not to invite Sam and Tucker, then go surprise Sam and invite them both himself. He grinned at the idea.

He headed for his door to go tell his parents he wanted to meet Sam and Tucker after school. He couldn't just call Jazz about the cancellation because cell phones weren't allowed during class. Hopefully that also meant she hadn't told them yet, unless she happened to meet them in the hall. He rushed down the stairs, in a hurry to get there and change the plans before Jazz could make them.

Needless to say, Maddie hesitated on the idea of letting him go outside yet, but he insisted. She told him she'd drive him, but he refused that as well. He needed to get there as fast as possible, and the fastest way was to fly. He feared she'd never allow it, but was relieved when she reluctantly agreed, as long as he ate something before he left. Danny was a bit irritated by the delay, but agreed anyway. He couldn't argue that something should be done about the growling pang of hunger that he'd been ignoring since he returned from Sam's.

He ate the soup his mother made, drinking as quickly as he could without looking too much in a hurry. He thanked her and politely refused when she tried to give him something more. He could see the maternal worry over his lack of adequate portions, so he promised he'd have dinner that night. He left through the front door when she seemed satisfied by that.

He jogged around the block to the nearest alley, going ghost as he skidded to a stop behind a dumpster. He was exceptionally delighted to see he still had the strength to jog and go ghost so easily after a coma-like state and nothing but a bowl of soup to sustain him. He was still experiencing minor sores and slight fatigue, but any other person would still be bed-ridden. It only made him appreciate his slightly more advanced healing process. Being injured on a number of occasions since acquiring his ghost powers made him notice this small difference, and he and his friends had briefly studied it. They found that his wounds healed three times faster than normal. For example, a broken bone meant to be in a cast for six weeks would need only two weeks for him. It made hiding injuries from everyone outside their secret keeping circle much easier.

School being only a few blocks away and his fastest flying speed being 112 miles per hour, the trip took just a few seconds. He went invisible and slowed down when he reached the front entrance, phasing through the front double-doors.

He could see it was between classes, the halls filled with students talking and exchanging books in their lockers. It was funny how it didn't feel strange to be there. He'd been out for a week, yet he felt like he'd just been there. Time flies when you're unconscious.

He slipped unnoticed through the halls toward Jazz's locker, hoping she'd be there or at least near it. He wouldn't find her without searching otherwise, not having her class schedule memorized or knowing which rooms they were in.

Turning the corner into the next hall, he was relieved to see her there, locker open as she placed one of the books she held inside.

He landed next to her, glancing around to be sure there was no one close enough to hear. He felt a mixture of guilt and an urge not to laugh as he knew his voice out of nowhere would frighten her.

"_Jazz_," he whispered.

Jazz suddenly jumped as if she'd been shocked. The sound of her startled yelp and the book she dropped slamming onto the floor that followed turned a few heads and stopped some students in mid-step. There was a sudden silence in that small part of the hall as they stared.

Jazz quickly recovered from the scare and bent down to pick her book up, ignoring the eyes that bore into her back. The sounds of voices and footsteps finally overtook the silence as the students went on their way.

After she stood and paused to be sure no one was looking anymore, Jazz turned irritated eyes in the direction she thought she heard the voice. "_Danny_!" she hissed. "_You scared me_!"

The word '_Sorry_', cracking with laughter, was what she got in response.

Jazz stared into the empty (at least empty in appearance) space. "_You're lucky I can't see you, otherwise I'd smack you!_"

Danny covered his mouth to stifle a snort. "_Sorry_," he repeated. And he was. His intention never was to scare her, but under the circumstances, it couldn't be helped.

Jazz exhaled, irritated. She took a moment to allow her nerves to settle, checking the halls out of the corners of her eyes to be sure no one saw her talking into space. She moved her eyes into her locker and began randomly shuffling the items inside around to appear busy so she wouldn't draw unwanted attention.

"_What are you doing here_?" she asked, eyes focused inside the locker. Her initial annoyance gone, she became concerned as she realized he probably shouldn't be out of bed, let alone using his powers. "_You should be at home resting_."

"_I'm fine_," Danny said honestly. "_I just wanted to tell you not to invite Sam and Tucker over_."

Puzzlement creased Jazz's brow. "_Why_?"

A small wave of unease rolled in his stomach. He wasn't about to tell her the _whole_ reason. He didn't need any of her 'older sister reactions' just yet. So he only settled for the part that was needed. "_I want to surprise them_."

"_Like you surprised me_?" Jazz accused a bit sourly. She wasn't truly upset with him, she just hated that he had the ability to take her off guard and scare her so easily, even when he didn't mean it. She grabbed a book out of her locker and closed it as the first warning bell echoed throughout the hall.

Danny suppressed a small chuckle. "_No. Just don't tell them, ok_?"

Jazz let out a small sigh and turned to face the direction she knew he was standing. She upped the volume of her voice from a whisper to a quiet tone to be heard over the sounds of students now rushing to their next classes. "Whatever you say," she said passively. She walked past him, unknowingly coming close to brushing against his shoulder. She paused just ahead of him, turning her head slightly back so he could see the gentle grin on her face. "Good to have you back, little brother."

Danny smiled as she walked away. "Thanks," he said softly.

He watched until she turned the corner at the end of the hall before scanning the walls for the nearest clock. He groaned impatiently upon learning there was still a ninety-minute gap between now and giving Sam the ring. The sound turned a head or two, despite the increase in volume in the halls, in which he hastily closed his mouth. Even when he couldn't be seen, the town of Amity Park was already well aware of the consistent presence of ghosts, and he didn't want to start a panic because someone heard a sound from empty space in the middle of the public high school. He breathed a silent sigh of relief when the eyes only hovered over the area he stood for a short second before going on their way as if nothing had happened.

He pondered his next step as the halls began to empty. His goal was to surprise Sam, but how would he go about it? Waiting for her outside after school was an option. He tossed that idea away as he realized Tucker would probably be with her, and he'd probably walk her home as well. He had to wait until it was just the two of them.

The answer hit him right after that. He'd just go to her house and wait for her to get home from school. She'd be alone once she was in her room. It was perfect.

With an excited smile, Danny leapt into flight and phased outside through the lockers and school wall, heading straight for Sam's house.

He hovered invisibly by her window as he mused over where he should wait. He could just float there and knock on her window when she came in. Or he could just wait in her room. Then he'd surely scare her, like he had Jazz. And yet, the second option was the most appealing. He didn't want to frighten Sam, but he surely would _surprise_ her more this way, which was what he really wanted. Lines creased an unsure expression on his face as he wondered how she would take two counts of entering her room without her permission. He dared flatter himself to think seeing him alive and well would surpass any anger or irritation she may have regarding it.

Only a moment of hesitation followed before he made up his mind and phased through her window.

He remained invisible and slid down to seat himself on the floor between her right curtain and a corner of the room where he could easily see the clock. There, he fiddled with the ring between his fingers, eyes checking the clock every now and then. A mix of emotions battled it out in his chest and stomach, making him feel a bit queasy. His heart pounded in his ears and against his chest like it was trying to break free of his ribcage. His right foot began swaying swiftly back and forth as the impatience and apprehension settled in. He inhaled deeply through his nose and released the breath through his mouth to calm his nerves. It relaxed his chest, but the rest of his ticks didn't let up.

_Just be patient_, he mentally told himself. _Everything will workout fine_.

He was pleased to find he believed this as the ones digit on the clock shifted into a 3.

- - -

"Phew! Thank _goodness_ it's _Friday_!"

The standard joy to the end of the school week was something she could scarcely believe her friend could express now. Could he really feel this happy under the current circumstances?

Sam placed her books in her locker mechanically, the same way she'd been doing almost everything else in the past week. She'd been going through the motions of everyday necessities, but it all felt empty. It was because _she_ felt empty. She couldn't seem to feel anything but unmerciful worry. Her actions were in her everyday motions, but her mind was with Danny. Was he all right? Was he going to recover? She had nothing to go by except a daily report from Jazz. Even that wasn't reassuring her in any way, as the report was always the same:

"_He's still not awake and my parents still won't allow any visitors."_

She'd heard it everyday for seven days, and each time she felt more and more helpless; and afraid. His condition wasn't changing. Did that mean he wasn't recovering? Shouldn't that mean the cover-up story Jazz had come up with _shouldn't_ include avoiding the hospital? Nothing else was helping. Maybe the hospital was what he needed. Or maybe they had waited too long and it was too late. These worries plagued her without relent.

It was crippling.

And despite these facts, Tucker stood beside her, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet with a wide grin on his face. It was _infuriating._

After taking care of her books and slipping her plush, purple spider backpack over her shoulders, Sam slammed her locker shut fiercely and turned on Tucker, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What's the _matter_ with you!?" she sharply accused. "How can you be so _happy _when Danny's not improving at all!?"

Tucker became perfectly still, the smile on his face disappearing instantly as wide eyes stared into Sam's angry face. He wasn't so surprised by the outburst itself, but by the fact that it was the most forward and honest emotion she'd expressed all week. All he ever got out of her were quiet remarks and acknowledgements or nothing at all. To see her outburst so suddenly caught him completely off guard.

For a few moments, he was tongue-tied. After getting over the initial shock, her words sunk in and he was a bit stung. He recovered his normal composure and said, "What's wrong with looking forward to the weekend?" he asked innocently, smiling goofily as he raised his hands in a shrug.

Sam's eyes burned through his a moment longer before she rolled them, releasing an irritated growl as she stomped off down the hall.

Tucker called after her as he ran to catch up, keeping pace with her when he reached her side. When he spoke, it was sincere and calm. "It's not like I'm not worried, Sam." Sam had cooled off a bit, but she still looked ahead, refusing to face him. Tucker continued nonetheless. "I'm just trying to be positive. I can't just go on worrying and letting myself think he's not ok. It's better to be optimistic and believe the best than be swallowed by worry."

Sam stopped in the middle of the hall, face directed at the floor. Her outburst was short lived, as all the anger had dissolved into nothing and the crippling worry smothered her again, leaving her feeling helpless and vulnerable.

She turned to look at Tucker. "But what if he's _not_ ok?" she asked. Her tone was heartbreaking; quiet, desperate and pleading for reassurance.

Tucker stared back with a sympathizing expression. He knew how deeply this had been affecting her. He'd been trying to raise her spirits with his positive enthusiasm all week, but nothing seemed to help. He couldn't deny the gnawing worry he'd been enduring as well, but there was no question Danny's condition affected her on a completely different level. She was in love with Danny, and his absence left a giant hole inside her. With a hole like that, she couldn't be complete, and therefore, couldn't be herself. Even though Tucker had done his best to help her through it, he knew the only way to heal this kind of wound was to fill the hole. And no one but Danny could do that.

Tucker released a small sigh through his nose, looked Sam straight in the eye and lifted the corners of his mouth in a confident, reassuring smile. "He's gonna be fine." He did his best to sound convincing.

Sam stared back in his eyes, searching for solid fact behind the claim. The words were reassuring, but without the reality in front of her, they felt as empty as the hole that hollowed out her chest. She turned her eyes down and continued on her way to the school entrance. Tucker sighed a heavy, sympathetic sigh before running to catch up with her.

As soon as Sam cleared the doors and stepped outside, she pulled her cell-phone out of her bag and immediately speed-dialed Jazz. She put it on speakerphone as she and Tucker stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She tapped her foot impatiently, but the call was answered after only two rings.

"_Hey, Sam_," Jazz's voice hummed through the speaker.

"Hi, Jazz," Sam managed unemotionally. A faint hint of hope colored her tone as she asked, "How's Danny?"

A short pause and an unsure, _"Ummm…"_ from the other end of the line sent the intact part of Sam's chest in a fit of panic. _"No change… but I think today is in his favor!"_ Jazz said the last part with chipper confidence.

Her tone ignited a sudden spark of hope inside Sam. "Really?" she said desperately, maybe a little more loudly than she meant.

"What makes you say that?" Tucker asked, hopeful.

Another short pause followed, in which Sam became incredibly impatient.

"_I just have a really good feeling,"_ Jazz said positively. The happy spunk in her voice almost made Sam believe it.

"Does that mean we can see him?" Sam asked. She almost wished she hadn't asked when the answer came. It was awful that it killed what little enthusiasm she was somehow mustering.

"_Not yet. My parents still think he might be contagious."_

Tucker chuckled. "You're getting too good at these cover-ups Jazz," he teased good-naturedly.

Jazz giggled in return. _"I've had enough practice."_

Sam was all but amused. The black cloud of worry hovered over her again, blocking all other sensations. "Let us know if anything changes, ok?" Her voice was void of emotion.

Jazz caught the deadness in Sam's voice and felt guilty right away. If only they knew she was covering up for a big surprise. _"Sure, no problem,"_ she tried to say with genuine honesty.

"See ya later Jazz!" Tucker called, waving at the phone.

"_See you guys!"_ Jazz called back.

Sam was sickened by their cheeriness.

Being in no mood for formalities, Sam hung up the phone without saying anything. She dumped the phone back into her bag, trying without success to shake away the cloud that hung over her head.

Daily routine commenced as Tucker walked Sam home, waving with a smile before he continued down the sidewalk. Sam waved her hand once in response before walking through the door.

She headed straight for the stairs to go to her room, glad her parents weren't around at the moment to strike up the 'How was your day?' conversation. She was sick of pretending she was fine in front of them and wasn't sure how much longer she could make the act convincing.

When she made it to her room, she closed and locked the door out of habit. She lingered there, pressing her forehead against the door and leaning her weight into it. She closed her eyes, commanding her lungs to breathe deep, steadying breaths. She suppressed a sob at the top of each breath, attempting to remain calm and relax the tension in her muscles.

The room was almost dark, slightly lit by the daylight shining against her closed curtains. And she was alone. Just the way she liked it.

Yet being alone, hearing nothing but the silence, always beckoned her most overwhelming emotions. There was no one to pretend for and no reason to hold back, which coaxed them out as soon as she was solitary.

As she'd done everyday since the last time she'd seen Danny, she let the emotions drop down on her. They were heavy and severe, weighing down on her so much her knees almost gave way underneath her. The hole in her chest screamed like wind blowing through an empty tunnel. Her face became hot and the corners of her eyes moistened with tears. Her next breath shook with a silent sob, and one of the tears rolled down her cheek.

How could she go on like this? How much more of this would she be able to take before it became too much? Without Danny, she was helpless. He was a part of her, and with him gone, that part was nothing but an empty hole. How can a person live with a piece of them hollowed out?

Sam pushed herself away from the door and walked over to her bed, dropping her bag on the floor in front of her nightstand on the way. She sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to place her face in her hands. She breathed another shaking breath, another tear escaping her eyes to go rolling down her wrist before falling to the carpet below.

_Please be all right Danny_, she mentally pleaded. Two more tears joined the first.

_Please._

- - -

Danny swallowed the nervous lump that had formed in his throat as the clock turned another minute. Sam would be home any second. The sixty plus minutes he'd already waited felt much longer than that. Many times he had considered just going straight to the school so the wait would be over. But he remained seated, tucked between the wall corner and the curtain. He wasn't about to blow it after all the effort he'd already put into it. It would be worth the wait.

His patience paid off as the sound of footsteps on the stairs down the hall reached his ears. His stomach leapt into his throat and he jumped to his feet. He'd never even heard the front door open, giving him less time to get a hold of himself. He clenched the ring tightly in his fist as the footsteps reached the hall outside her door, his eyes watching the door anxiously.

And it opened, and Sam entered. The room was fairly dark, but he could see that it was her. An affectionate smile graced his features as his eyes softened. Just seeing her sparked the remains of the fire that had burned in his chest just hours before. It was a pleasant feeling he welcomed happily. But he remained where he stood, invisible against her back wall, as he wasn't sure what to do next. Instead, he just watched her as he pondered his next move.

It only took a few short moments of observing for him to notice something wasn't right. Sam had come into her room, shut and locked the door. But she hadn't moved. She was just… standing there.

Danny's smile slowly faded and worry lines began creasing his brow. The warm flame inside him traded over for a pinch of concern.

When he waited a few seconds longer and she still hadn't moved, the pinch amplified into a stab. There was something wrong, he was sure of it.

Just as he was about to take a step forward, Sam suddenly turned, walking swiftly over to her bed, dropping her bag on the way and seating herself on the edge of the bed with her back to him, leaning forward with her face in her hands. The room was quiet enough to give any sound volume, which was why his ears picked up the shaking breath she took.

Danny's first instinct was to rush over to her, but he remembered his situation and reminded himself that he didn't want to scare her if he could prevent it. Instead, he commanded his feet to ignore their urge to rush and walk slowly around until he was standing across from her just a few short feet away.

He abandoned his invisibility before he spoke.

"Sam?"

In the first moment, Sam froze. She procrastinated the urge to look up, believing she was hearing things. She thought it the most likely explanation. But the need to know whether or not it was real overcame that assumption and her head snapped up.

Her breath caught in her chest when her eyes lay upon Danny, standing right in front of her in his ghost form.

As Danny stared into Sam's tearstained face, a heavy weight fell down the length of his chest and landed in his stomach. His eyes became impossibly soft and his heart simply shattered upon seeing the emptiness in her eyes. What was wrong? Why did she appear so… dead?

"Sam?" he repeated. He took a step forward, pocketing the concealed ring and reaching a hand out to her. "What's wrong?"

Sam's hesitation lasted barely a second before she stood up and closed the distance between herself and Danny and wrapped her arms around him in a tight deadlock, pressing her face into his chest.

Although a bit surprised by the unexpected reaction, Danny didn't delay in returning the gesture, locking his arms around her, cradling her closely. He rested his cheek on the top of her head to make himself like a shelter over her.

Sam lost control of herself and released everything she'd been holding in for seven long days. Her tears flowed freely and unceasing as her next breath shook violently on the inhale. "I thought you were gonna die!" she said on the exhale, voice cracking with tears. She proceeded to take shuddering breaths, holding him as tightly as her arms would allow, as if she feared he would disappear if she loosened her grip.

Danny lifted one of his arms to cradle the back of her head to keep her face close to him. A serrated edge ripped his insides as her words made him realize he was the one to cause her this pain. True that it hadn't been his fault, being unable to control how long he'd had to spend in a coma, but he'd enabled her pain to continue one more day by delaying their visit and the news of his recovery.

He changed back to his human form while he held her. He wasn't sure why; human form, ghost form- he was always himself. But his human side was still the dominant half that just housed the ghost half. He just felt a bit more like himself in his human form.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice saturated in regret. He could have prevented this if he'd just let Jazz tell her he was ok. He'd meant the best, but it turned out to be a stupid mistake.

Danny's chest vibrated against Sam's cheek as he spoke. It, along with the feelings of him pressed closely against her, was the physical evidence of his well being she'd been dying for. Her labored breathing began to calm into longer, steadier breaths until it was normal, and the river of tears slowed to an infrequent trickle. She relaxed into him, feeling the slight exhaustion of her fit of tears come down on her. Her eyes cracked open enough to see the white fabric of his shirt that was becoming wet with her tears. She felt his chest rise and fall with his breathing. It acted as a metronome, hypnotizing her into a sleepy bliss. His breathing was undeniable truth that he was ok.

A faint smile brightened her face as she closed her eyes again. Her voice was weak, but it was full of bliss. "I'm just glad you're ok," she said softly.

Danny sighed through his nose. He still hated himself at the moment, despite Sam's acceptance of his apology. He knew he shouldn't allow such guilt trips on himself when it wasn't his fault, but anything that caused Sam pain, especially to this degree, always angered him. But at the same time, he began wondering why he hadn't fathomed all of this in the first place. He knew his well being mattered to Sam the same way hers did to him, so why hadn't he seen this coming?

When the answer came, Danny waited a bit before he asked to give Sam more time to calm down. Not only that, but he was deeply enjoying holding her so closely and was more than happy to extend it as long as he could. He realized that he'd wanted to hold her like this longer than he cared to recall, and for the first time, he was. No secrets to separate them, no holding back. He could just express his love freely and be there for her when she needed him.

After about one minute, Danny spoke to her softly. She seemed so fragile at the moment he was afraid speaking too loud might frighten her. "Why were you _this_ worried? You saw me after you brought me back from the Ghost Zone and I was fine." He paused to give it more thought. "I know I was out for a week, but…"

Sam didn't answer right away, and he waited patiently. It was only a few moments later that she spoke. "We called Jazz everyday and she always said you weren't awake and there was no change." Her voice was level and calm, no longer shaking, but low in volume like his had been. It was like they were both trying not to break the occurrence going on between them. "It was like you weren't getting better." Her tone had lowered to a deader one when she said this as she was reminded of the horrors she'd faced when she thought he wasn't going to make it.

Danny could now understand her situation. He would have broken down and lost himself as well if it had been Sam on the brink of death. The very thought of Sam coming anywhere near any kind of harm set an angry flame ablaze in his chest. It made him instinctively tighten his hold around her protectively, as if that alone would protect her from danger.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. He pulled his hand away from the back of her head to reach in between them and gently grasp her right hand. He pressed his forehead against hers to look in her face. "I never meant to hurt you."

Sam stared into Danny's eyes. Even in the dark, she could still find that special light gleaming inside the sapphire circles.

There wasn't any real way to describe it; just a special glow that she saw in his eyes, and his eyes, only. She'd never seen it in anyone else's. It was so soft and gentle, caring and affectionate. It was the essence of who he was, making itself visible to anyone who cared to look for it. She'd never gotten to see it up close or for any extended periods of time. She'd just get glimpses of it during daily conversations where eye contact lasted only a few seconds. Now that she was staring into it, so long and so deeply without interruption, she found herself getting lost in it. It was like she'd been hypnotized and nothing mattered but Danny. Nothing but the person that he was that made a physical appearance through the glow radiating from his eyes.

But he was the only thing that mattered to her anyway. Nothing really mattered to her without Danny. Things just lost meaning when he wasn't there. Like how she'd been going through the motions all week without feeling because he'd left that hole inside her. Now he was here, and the hole was gone.

The entire time Sam had been staring into Danny's eyes, he'd been staring back into hers. They were both so absorbed that neither one noticed the change that began taking place. A silent signal had been sent between them, and their heads began moving closer to one another. It wasn't until their lips brushed together that either realized they'd been leaning in for a kiss.

Their eyes slowly closed, taking their focus off their stares and bringing it fully upon the kiss.

It wasn't like any that they'd shared before; 'fake out-make outs' as they called them. Those had been staged, quick and impersonal. This one was true; both sides giving willingly based on love, not on a cover-up act. The kiss deepened, neither really sure what they were doing, but somehow managing to make it better than either could have imagined. The flame inside Danny's chest had reappeared even bigger than before, warming his entire torso with a heat that couldn't be found in any other manner than this.

They finally parted to catch their breath, foreheads still pressed together and lips lingering closely to one another.

Both pairs of eyes slid open and looked into the other. Danny saw that all the deadness had left Sam's eyes and they were shining with a happiness that could have literally lit the room. Sam saw Danny's special light brighten, indicating his elation.

Smiles lit both faces.

A little voice told Danny now was the perfect time. He'd been afraid all of his efforts had gone to waste, but his former assumption had turned out to be true; he would just know.

"I have something for you," he said, still speaking at a low volume. His eyes didn't leave hers as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. He took one very small step back to put a bit of space between them. Only then did both pairs of eyes look down to see Danny holding Sam's right hand with one of his and holding the class ring in the other.

"I thought we should make it official," he explained. He held the ring up between his thumb and forefinger so she could see her name engraved inside the band.

As Sam stared at the ring, a realization dawned on her. "When did you get that?" she asked. Instead of appearing angry, she seemed like she was sarcastically scolding. It was easy to piece it together; he'd come looking for it while she wasn't there which meant he'd gone through her things. She wondered how much he'd looked through before he found it. She looked into his face and tried to look disapproving, but she looked more like she was trying not to laugh. It was just like him to do something like this. And she knew him well enough to know he felt guilty for going through her things without asking her. She found it too cute to be angry.

Just as she suspected, a look of apologetic guilt spread across his face. "I'm sorry I came in without asking. I just wanted to surprise you."

If it had been anyone else, she would have been angry. But because it was Danny doing something so sweet just for her, she just nodded, lightly squeezing the hand that held hers in acceptance. "Well, you did."

A sweet smile lit Danny's face, and he proceeded to slip the ring over her right ring finger.

Both stared at it for a few moments longer before looking up into each other's faces. Both were elated that it had finally begun, and their fears had finally ended.

They bound their arms around each other in a hug just like the one before.

"I love you," he whispered softly. The last time they'd said this, it was full of apprehension and fear of rejection. Now it was said with a secure promise of the feeling being mutual.

"I love you, too," she whispered back.

* * *

Thanks for reading. I hope this satisfied all Danny/Sam romance cravings.

I know the story seems a bit slow now, but don't forget this is a romance among other things. There's plenty of action ahead, so tune in next time. I'll be glad to see you :).

Chapter Playlist

'Your Guardian Angel'- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Danny and Sam's theme song for The Phantom Retribution)

'Never Alone'- Barlow Girl

There were more, but I can't remember them all XD.


	4. The Perfect Moments Spent With You

To a third party observer, the embraced couple before them would have appeared to be glued together. They were pressed together so closely, arms wrapped around each other, and hadn't moved in several minutes. Nor did they show signs of moving anytime soon.

But lucky for Danny and Sam, there were no onlookers to judge them or make comments. No one to interrupt them, whether it be to tease or congratulate them. They were alone, free from prying eyes.

And they were enjoying every moment of it.

It was easy to enjoy their intimate moment with such privacy. The silence was peaceful, the only sounds to be heard being their steady breathing. Because Danny's cheek was resting atop Sam's head, he found himself inhaling the scent of her hair. It was a hint of strawberry with a faint burst of some floral odor; he didn't know enough about flowers to pinpoint the smell exactly. He was unsure if this was her individual smell or possibly the shampoo she used. Curious, he shifted his head ever so slightly so his nose was just above her forehead. As he inhaled, he found the same smell drifting off her skin. He smiled, pleased at this finding. Why hadn't he ever noticed she smelled this good? The flame that burned in his chest became impossibly warm, his heart thudding a little harder than usual.

Sam could feel Danny's heart beating against her cheek as it lay upon his chest. She heard when it began thudding more loudly, making a pounding sound in her ear as if it was her own heart beating so rapidly. It was a beautiful sound; the most reliable sign of life, of_ his_ life, pulsing strongly inside him. It entirely mended the hole inside her as if it had never been there, compensating for the fears and horrors she'd faced all week long.

Neither knew, nor did they care, how much time had passed since they'd embraced. The occasion was timeless, no one else existing and nothing else mattering but the one person they each held in their arms.

The silence was pleasant, and neither felt inclined to interrupt it. But Danny was the first to break it when something came to mind, curious to see Sam's reaction. Plus, he found he needed to hear her voice; that alone was reason enough.

"The picture was nice." The silence had been broken, but not unpleasantly so; his voice remained at a low volume, just above a whisper, conversation enhancing the moment instead of severing it.

Danny's heart was beating in a hypnotic rhythm that had put Sam in a trance. His comment suddenly pulled her out of it; it was completely unexpected. She'd been so joyous when Danny had presented her with the ring and so amused at his predictable guilt in finding it that she'd all but forgotten about the picture. Her eyes opened and she stiffened.

"Uhhh… uh-huh." She said it quietly, nervous upon being caught with a picture he was never meant to see. She felt rather guilty for keeping it a secret. Not to mention embarrassed he'd seen it when he'd never had any idea it'd been taken.

Danny smiled into her hair, amused by her bashful reaction. He was still curious to know how the picture had come to be and wasn't about to let her answer end there.

"Who initiated _that_ pose?" he asked. His tone feigned disparagement.

A blush colored Sam's cheeks in the short silence that followed. "Me," she confessed in a tiny voice.

Danny started to chuckle. Sam turned her face towards his chest and buried it in his shirt, the red in her cheeks deepening. Funny how she was hiding into him when he was the one she wanted to hide from.

Danny decided to have mercy on her in her state of embarrassment and allowed his laughter to die away. He knew out of the number of explanations, an accident or an intended action on Sam's part were the most likely ways the pose had come to be. He just couldn't tame his need to hear it for certain.

He tightened his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her gently in reassurance. "I'm sorry," he said honestly, an amused smile in his voice. "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Sam turned her head so her ear was once again pressed against his heart, her own fluttering around rapidly as the embarrassment gradually wore away. She closed her eyes and allowed his heartbeat to hypnotize her again and draw her back into the same calming trance, a soft smile gracing her features. "It's ok," she allowed easily.

Danny's grin widened affectionately. He buried one side of his face in her hair as it lay on top of her head, inhaling her floral-berry scent as he breathed deeply through his nose. The fire ignited by her presence burned fiercely in his chest. As if the flame wasn't already warming him enough, her body pressed so closely against his for such a long period of time was allowing the transfer of body heat, making it impossible for either of them to be cold.

In this state, Danny was more than happy to allow the silence to settle back in, but he wasn't satisfied with her answer just yet. Now that he'd confirmed she'd been the initiator, he wanted to know how she'd gone about it.

"What made you decide to do it?" he asked, the mutual use of quiet tones still in effect. He knew she was over her initial embarrassment and figured it was safe to press further.

Sam counted the blessing of being able to hear his voice and feel it against her cheek as it vibrated in his chest at the same time. It wasn't like anything she'd ever experienced, nor did she think she ever would. She treasured the fact that she was sharing such a moment with Danny.

Regarding his question, she knew she'd be comfortable telling him. In truth, no longer needing to keep the picture, or her feelings for that matter, a secret was a great relief. She began questioning why she'd been so nervous to confess that it had been her initiating the close pose in the picture. After all, they'd just confessed love, confirmed a committed relationship with a ring, and shared a kissed. How could she have been shy about anything after that?

Sam began thinking back, reliving the night the photo had been taken. She tightened the hold her arms had around his back, feeling like she was getting cozy to watch a movie with him. "It was after midnight when we started watching the third movie. You fell asleep and Tucker and I decided not to wake you. We knew you were tired from staying up the night before chasing that snake ghost."

Danny immediately recalled that tiring evening. A snake ghost was known for swallowing small animals, and he always tried to capture them as soon as possible, unwilling to find out if they had the tendency to swallow people. He spent the first half of the night trying to find it, then another good hour forcing it to regurgitate three dogs before he finally captured it. He came home with a large bruise on his right arm as a souvenir where the ghost had whipped him with its ridiculously large tail.

Sam continued, unaware of Danny's quick flashback. "Then in the middle of the movie-" she paused to restrain a laugh-"Tucker got that _look_."

Danny chuckled in his throat, amused. He knew she meant the sudden, wide-eyed Tucker stare accompanied by a hand over his belly. It was the same look he got the first time he ate raw vegetables.

"He said he'd be right back and ran for the bathroom. I just tried to watch the movie and keep from getting grossed out." She paused, the feelings she had that night starting to reappear. The same strange pinch pricked her chest; it was a crippling mix of fear and longing.

"After a minute… I realized it was just us. And I knew Tucker wouldn't be back for a while." They both shared a short, quiet chuckle. She paused again when she recalled looking over at Danny, leaned against the back of the couch, right arm draped over the couch arm, head slanted to the left. As she was seated directly on his left, she could see his face, slightly concealed by his hair as it hung downward, mouth slightly agape. He looked so at peace, sleeping so soundly. The pinch of longing in her chest made itself very real.

"And… when I looked at you… you looked so…" Her voice lowered, her tone shaking slightly as if she was in pain. Danny picked up on this change and became immediately concerned. He moved his head and pressed his forehead against hers to see her face. There was a shadow of pain in her eyes as well.

"Sam…" His eyes softened with sympathy and guilt, and the flame in his chest wavered like it was being blown in the wind. This was a reminder that waiting so long to confess his feelings had hurt her more than he ever knew. It shouldn't matter anymore, now that they were together, but it upset him to know the memories could still hurt her.

Sam could read these things in his eyes; his light had become watery and wavy. That was his pain and his guilt. She wasn't about to let him get himself worked up over the past. She moved her face away from his and laid it back on his chest, hugging him tightly for reassurance. "It's ok; what matters is now. It doesn't hurt anymore." And she meant it.

Danny returned his cheek to its spot on the top of her head. The change in her tone made him believe her; it had become as light as it was before.

She continued where she left off, closing her eyes and picturing the scene again. "Well, for one thing, you looked adorable."

Danny smiled into her hair, chuckling in his throat. Sam smiled to herself. Even with the memories reminding her of dark feelings, they didn't have the same power anymore. Not with Danny there.

"I… I just wanted to be with you in some way. Even if you didn't know it. So… I put my feet up on the couch and… leaned my head on your shoulder." She remembered the wrenching fear of getting caught as she recited the next part. "You moved a little bit and I was afraid you were waking up. But…" Her voice fell into blissful affection, as if she was speaking of something he'd done for her that was impossibly sweet. "You just lowered your head and laid it on top of mine. I knew you hadn't done it on purpose, but…" Her grin widened, and warmth glowed in her chest. "It was so perfect."

A gentle smile appeared on Danny's lips, and his flame blazed. It was good to know she had a moment to treasure in that time despite everything else.

"I didn't realize that I was getting tired," Sam continued, "And I started dozing off; which is why I didn't notice when Tucker came back in." Her smile was amused, her eyes rolling. "The digital camera beeping was what woke me up." She would have shaken her head if it hadn't been pressed against Danny's chest.

Sam began shaking with quiet laughter. "You should have seen the look on his face when I caught him."

Danny laughed along with her, finding it easy to picture; Sam had a talent for giving Tucker looks that could make a dragon ghost cower in fright. No doubt he'd been terrified, not counting on getting caught.

Sam continued once the laughter died away. "I got up and told him to delete it while I was trying to take it from him. He showed it to me and said it was too cute to delete. I couldn't deny how much I liked it." She gave a small shrug. "I told him he could keep it if he promised not to tell you. He agreed to it and printed a copy for me." She paused, feeling a bit silly as she confessed the rest. "I used to stare at it every night. I felt like it was the closest I'd ever get to it being real. …Then you got sick and I missed you too much to look at it anymore. Every time I tried, it felt like it was the last time I would ever see you." A sharp pang stabbed her chest as she remembered how much it hurt when she began believing he wasn't coming back and the picture was all she had left of him.

Danny knew she was finished when a few moments ticked by and she said nothing else. His heart pulsed uncomfortably with guilt when he tried to imagine what it must have been like for her to believe the last time she'd ever see him alive would be in the picture. Not to mention how hard it must have been to feel it was the closest she'd ever get to a real moment with him.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, even though he wasn't at fault. He pulled his arms away from her shoulders, stepped back ever so slightly and placed his hands gingerly on the sides of her waist, pressing their foreheads together to stare into her eyes. Sam kept her hands clasped together behind his back, staring into his light that sparkled like a starlit night.

Danny's bright smile could have lit the room. "Is this real enough?"

Sam's eyes softened, an affectionate smile spreading across her face as she watched his eyes like a stargazer watching a shower of shooting stars.

"Definitely."

The atmosphere had been privately undisturbed as both had done well in making sure they didn't break it.

But a knock on the door shattered it like glass.

When he was caught off guard, the first of Danny's instincts to kick in was protection. He threw his arms around Sam and pulled her against his chest to shield her, mouth and eyebrows turned down in a threatening frown, narrowed eyes shifting to the door. Sam gasped, taken by surprise by the knock that broke the ambiance and Danny's rapid, unexpected reaction.

"Sam, dear?" an elderly, female voice spoke sweetly on the other side of the door.

Danny's frown smoothed out and in its place was a slightly puzzled look, his arms ever so slightly loosening their grip around Sam.

Sam's eyes widened and a flicker of panic flashed inside her chest. "It's my grandma!" she said in a high whisper. She tried to look up at him, but her cheek was still pressed against his chest, one of his hands holding it there firmly as it lay on the back of her head.

Danny felt her struggling and loosened his grip without completely letting go, allowing her to move back a bit and look at him while his hands remained where they were on the back of her shoulders and head. He moved his eyes from the door to look into hers.

Sam began mentally panicking. "I have to answer it or she'll think something's wrong," she explained, voice remaining an anxious whisper. It was needless to say she couldn't be caught with Danny in there.

"Ok," was Danny's short answer before he disappeared. He hadn't moved; he only became invisible. Sam's hands were still pressed against his back and she still felt his hands holding her.

Sam became immediately uneasy for an entirely different reason; she wasn't happy that she couldn't see him. And she'd have to let him go if she was going to answer the door. How would she know he was still there if she couldn't see or feel him? She procrastinated, grabbing hold of the back of his shirt desperately, staring up where she thought his eyes were, her own eyes pleading. "Don't go."

She felt Danny's hands release their hold on her before they suddenly wrapped around her clenched fists. Her heart fluttered nervously; it was so strange to see. She felt his hands open her fists and the fabric of his shirt fall out of her fingers before her hands were brought in front of her and held together between his bigger, invisible ones. She felt and watched the entire thing, yet she'd seen nothing but her own hands.

"I won't," Danny whispered, bringing Sam's gaze back up to search for the eyes she couldn't see. "I promise."

Sam was hesitant at first, but agreed with a small nod. His promises had proven themselves sincere; he had yet to break any promise he ever made to her.

Sam began stepping away, turning her eyes to look at the door. There was another soft knock, and she knew she couldn't wait any longer. She felt Danny's hands release their hold on hers; she let her outstretched fingers linger on his a moment longer before she too let go. She didn't doubt he'd keep his promise, but being unable to sense him in any way to reassure herself of his presence made her heart begin beating in an anxious, uncomfortable flutter.

She walked over to the door, brushing her face quickly with her palms to remove any tear crusts that may have been there, unlocked the door and opened it a fraction of the way. Her eyes met her grandmother's smiling face, gentle eyes watching her behind thick-framed glasses.

"Hi, grandma," Sam said with a greeting smile, opening the door the rest of the way.

"May I come in?"

"Of course." Sam stepped aside, hand still on the door handle. As her grandmother pressed forward on the hand control stick of her mechanical wheelchair, Sam couldn't keep her eyes from taking a swift glance around her room. Danny was still invisible, as she saw nothing; but a pinch of unease pricked her chest knowing he was in there somewhere and, although it was nearly impossible for him to get caught, feared what might happen if he did. Even by her grandmother, whom she got along with better than she did her own parents, finding Sam was hiding a boy in her room might not settle too well.

Sam closed the door once her grandmother was in the room. She turned to face her, finding she'd parked her chair right next to her bed. This wasn't so strange to her; they'd shared many conversations in the same manner over the years, this being the main reason they had such a close relationship. But as close as Sam was to her grandmother, there were still things she never confided in her. These things included Danny's ghost powers and how she'd fallen in love with him.

But something was different this time. Grandma Manson motioned for Sam to sit down by patting the bed next to her, saying, "Come sit, honey. We need to talk."

This set Sam's chest in a nervous fit. She had never started their conversations with that phrase before. Whenever an authority figure said that, it almost always meant 'you're in big trouble.' And the deep-set frowns on their faces made you cower and dread the thought of just how much trouble you were in.

But what truly made this strange was the absence of that look on her grandmother's face. Hers was smiling gently, warmly, her eyes soft and calm as if she was relaxing. She looked more like she had good news and wanted to casually share it with her granddaughter.

Sam was unsure how to react to this strange turn of events. Grandma Manson patted the bed again, so she took a hesitant step forward and walked the distance to her bed, slowly seating herself on the spot indicated. She folded her hands in her lap, meeting her grandmother's eyes with nervous unease in her own.

Her stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot when silence followed.

Thankfully, it was a short silence. Grandma Manson reached over and tucked one side of Sam's hair behind her ear, smiling tenderly, her eyes gleaming with grandmotherly love as she gazed into her granddaughter's face. "You're such a beautiful girl," she praised lovingly, her voice a bit shaky with old age. She brought her fingers down to Sam's chin, holding it gently. "Shapely little lips; deep, gorgeous eyes…" She dropped her hand, closed her eyes and raised her chin proudly, mouth curving up in a cocky smile. "You look just like me when I was your age."

Sam smiled genuinely, laughing silently at Grandma Manson's sense of humor; it loosened the knot in her stomach without completely unraveling it. It was true; the resemblance was astonishing. Looking at a photo of her when she was a teen was almost like looking into a mirror for Sam. Despite this, Sam had never been able to agree she was as beautiful as her grandmother always said. It was a personal insecurity she had yet to come to terms with.

Grandma Manson abandoned her smug expression for the former one, looking back at Sam. She reached for one of Sam's hands and pulled it into her lap, rubbing the back affectionately. "And that's one of the reasons it's so easy for me to read your face." Her eyes searched Sam's knowingly, her wrinkled face shaping a supportive expression. "Something's been on your mind lately." She patted Sam's hand gently. "Why don't you tell Grandma what's been bothering you?"

A nervous heat warmed Sam's chest, her heartbeat's speed increasing. Apparently, the act she'd put on all week only fooled her parents. It was a tad embarrassing; she felt a little silly to find her act hadn't been enough to fool her grandma as well. But then she wondered, what was so bad about telling her grandmother of all people?

"Umm," Sam began, clearing her throat before continuing, "My friend was sick all week." She added a small shrug. "I was just worried about him." She expected her grandma to nod, say she understood and ask how he was.

But a puzzled frown appeared on her face when Grandma Manson instead smiled, chuckling in her throat. She dipped her chin to peer at Sam over her half-moon spectacles. "Something serious has been on your mind for much longer than a week." One side of her mouth lifted higher than the other in a sly, knowing grin. "Grandmas know these things."

The heat in Sam's chest spilled over, bringing up the temperature in her face until she was blushing, her eyes widening in surprise. Was she wrong in thinking she could keep secrets from anyone? Had her grandmother seen through her the way Tucker had? Had she, through close observance, learned her granddaughter's feelings?

Sam's mouth opened and closed twice, tongue-tied ever since her breathing had halted and formed a lump in her throat. This reaction seemed irrational, but it must have been because it was too hard to admit her feelings to anyone else, being it had taken so long for her to simply admit them to herself.

Grandma Manson smiled brightly; Sam's stuttering response was as good as a confession to her. She sighed happily, reaching for Sam's other hand and gently grasping her fingers, pulling it just in front of her face. Her eyes looked down to examine the teal jewel of the ring on Sam's slim finger.

"Don't fret so much, sweetie," she said, nodding as she gently patted Sam's jeweled hand reassuringly. "Danny's a good boy."

Sam was too stunned to say anything; she was having a hard time fathoming how her grandmother had known about her feelings for Danny for so long, not to mention how she'd known of the ring.

Grandma Manson placed Sam's hand back in her unmoving lap, maneuvering her chair to head for the door. She paused with her hand on the knob, half-closed eyes scanning the room above a sly smile. "And tell him I said hello," were her final words before she opened the door, let herself out and shut it behind her.

Sam remained motionless, wide, unblinking eyes staring after the door, the lump in her throat still blocking any intake of breath. As if she hadn't been stunned enough already, her grandma's last glance and comment multiplied her shock.

Did she know Danny was in there? And if she did… did she think he was just hiding?

Or did she know he was half-ghost?

Danny suddenly appeared next to her. Sam gasped in surprise, which dislodged the lump in her throat, her head snapping up to look at him. He was staring after the door, a wide-eyed, alarmed expression decorating his face.

He turned his head to face Sam, fear smothering his eyes.

"Does she know?" Danny mirrored the question Sam had mentally asked herself just seconds before, his tone a hushed, anxious whisper. The notion astonished him as much as it had Sam.

Sam's initial shock vanished and in its place came sheer relief. Her hand flew out and slipped into his, squeezing it firmly. Her nerves settled a bit now that she could confirm his presence by seeing and feeling him. She just got him back after a week of worrying and was in no way ready to let him go anytime soon; half her mind still believed the ridiculous idea that he might disappear if she didn't hold on to him.

Danny closed his hand around hers and squeezed it in response, expression unchanged.

"I don't see how she could," Sam answered in regards to the question on both their minds. Her brows met in a puzzled frown. "I never told her." Such a thing was needless to say, but she confirmed it nonetheless.

Danny's expression became thoughtful. "Sounds like she knows a lot of stuff without being told."

Sam agreed with a small nod.

Danny's face became contorted with lines of worry, like he was bracing himself. "Would she tell anyone?" If it turned out she was in the know of his powers, he needed to know if she could be trusted in secrecy.

Sam's answer was immediate and firmly confident. "No." She went on to explain when Danny's skeptical look told her he wasn't fully convinced. "My parents aren't fans of ghost-based stories on the news, but my grandma always agrees when the reporter talks of Danny Phantom as a hero. She knows all the good you do and wouldn't want to make it harder for you to protect everyone by blowing your secret."

She waited while Danny processed her answer. It was frightening to know someone could just know of his powers; he felt he might not be doing a very good job covering them up. But the elderly tend to be observant of family and those close to them, so the fault must not be his. Sam's grandma was just a grandmother that paid attention. Plus, he had more than enough trust in Sam to have faith in her judgments and believe anything she said. That alone was reason enough to conclude his secret would remain a secret.

Sam knew she had him convinced when the worry lines smoothed out and his face became calm, a gentle smile shaping his lips. His grin coaxed a smile of her own.

Sam had the mind to stand up, but found she couldn't; her eyes strayed from Danny's as they became a bit droopy, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth and stifle a small yawn.

"You ok?" Danny asked, his tone implementing more concern than necessary.

"Yeah, of course," Sam answered after she dropped her hand from her mouth to lay it in her lap. She looked up at him with a reassuring grin, the after effects of the yawn pulling her eyelids down just a bit. "Just tired."

It didn't take more than that for Danny to receive the message; she'd lost sleep over the past seven nights worrying over his condition. The incident with Sam's grandmother was instantly forgotten as a pinprick of guilt poked at his chest. Was he _ever_ going to stop feeling guilty over the small things?

_No_, he answered himself mentally. _It's never a small thing when Sam is involved._

Though the exchange had gone on in Danny's head, he couldn't hide it from Sam; she could plainly see when his light wavered, illustrating his remorse.

"Stop that," Sam ordered, her voice lacking the authority she meant it to have thanks to her sudden wave of fatigue.

Danny's brows met, puzzled by her comment. "Stop what?"

"That guilt thing," Sam answered, gesturing towards his eyes by slightly nodding her head in his direction. "You feel guilty about everything; even things that aren't your fault."

One of Danny's eyebrows lifted, questioning. He had to disagree with her on the matter of his faults, but he was more interested in how she'd know what he was thinking. "How'd you know I felt guilty?"

Her eyes squinted as she looked into his face like she was examining him. "It's in your eyes."

"My eyes?" Danny was bewildered. He hadn't even considered that she could see the emotions in his eyes; he wondered why he hadn't fathomed it when he could read them in hers as well. But she'd read them so quickly, and she'd spotted which emotion he was feeling without making a mistake. He suddenly became self-conscious in knowing he was so easy to read.

Sam nodded a small nod, looking at him with a tranquil, yet serious expression. "Please don't get yourself so worked up over things you didn't do. You'll never be able to relax if you blame yourself for everything."

Danny examined her eyes as he considered her words. He couldn't deny the truth in her statement, yet he also couldn't agree with it. He knew that anytime a ghost threatened her life, she would say the ghost was to blame. This was true, but he also knew that, in many cases, the fault was just as much his. The ghosts he'd defeated had developed grudges against him, and one of the best methods for revenge was to target those he cared about. Therefore, if a ghost targeted Sam to hurt Danny, he believed the fault was equally his own.

Silence had commenced as Danny deeply pondered these things. Sam watched his eyes the entire time, which was why she knew of the battle going on in his mind. His light was swirling around like the surface of water being violently stirred with a spoon. He was allowing undeserved guilt and crippling worry swallow him. Watching him do this to himself cut into her chest painfully like a knife had dug itself deep within.

Sam stood up, finally finding the strength to get to her feet, then bound her arms around his waist and pressed herself into him, locking him in a tight, comforting hug. "Just stop," she pleaded into his chest. "Relax. Everything's fine."

Danny laid his cheek on her head, enveloping her shoulders and head with his arms. He was endlessly grateful to her for being his comfort. Holding her like this kindled the flame inside him and burned away his guilt and worry. And she was right, everything was fine; because she was safe.

And Danny vowed to keep her that way.

The embrace went on for approximately one minute before Sam tried to hold back another yawn, attempting to hide it by turning her face against his shirt. It didn't work; Danny heard the first half of the yawn before she stifled the last half.

"I think you need a nap," Danny smiled, mood considerably brighter thanks to Sam's comfort.

Sam sighed a heavy, tired sigh, blinking away the water that collected at the corners of her eyes. "No, I'm fine," she breathed sleepily, eyelids weighing down heavily.

Danny rolled his eyes humorously, an amused grin decorating his face. "Uh-huh," he agreed sarcastically. He found her behavior funny, but he couldn't figure out why she was insisting on fighting sleep.

He decided to save time and not press the subject. Instead, he just reached down and placed one of his arms underneath her legs and lifted her bridal style. He then proceeded to gently place her down on the middle of her bed above the blanket and sheets. When he backed away, keeping hold of one of her hands with one of his, he was surprised to see her face displaying shock instead of fatigue.

Danny's brow puckered, unsure whether he should be worried. "What?"

Sam looked thoughtful, like she was trying to find the answer to a puzzle. "Since when can you lift me without going ghost?"

Danny blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting that. Offense would have been the proper emotion, but instead he found himself laughing. He placed his free hand over his chest, smiling big in his laughter. "I'm offended, Sam," he said sarcastically. His laughter stopped then and his smile shrank, but didn't disappear. He lowered his hand from his chest and asked, "What made you think I couldn't before?"

Sam had to stop and think. She couldn't argue that it was a good question; she wasn't sure why she'd asked it in the first place. "I guess… you've just never done it before. When you weren't a ghost, I mean."

Danny thought back for a moment before he agreed with a nod. "Yeah, I guess not." One side of his mouth lifted in a half smile. "But still, for you to think I couldn't do it despite that. You're not even heavy."

Sam matched his half-smile, her eyes partially closed as sleep started to settle back in. "I guess it's just that your puny arms don't make a very good statement for themselves." She was kidding, and they both knew it.

They shared a short, quiet chuckle, smiles of humor altering into grins of affection as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Just go to sleep," Danny said, pulling his hand away from hers. His smile was tender, caring. "You need it."

The tips of Danny's fingers hadn't released Sam's yet when she pushed her hand back into his, holding it tightly as if to keep it there. Danny looked into her eyes, his own suddenly alert and wavering with concern.

Sam's heart began beating in an anxious pulse that pounded against her ribcage, her eyes shining with fear. "You can't leave." She still couldn't stand the thought of being unable to sense him in some way. The side of her mind that thought he'd disappear hadn't yet been silenced.

Danny's expression softened sympathetically. Now he knew why she was refusing to sleep. He wrapped his long fingers around her small hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Alright, I won't," he promised. In truth, he didn't want to leave either. He only planned to because he believed it would be easier for her to rest that way. But if she needed him to stay, he would.

Sam's heart calmed to a regular pace and her face relaxed upon his response. She felt secure knowing he would stay, but then she wondered if it was a selfish request. What was he supposed to do? Just stand there and hold her hand while she slept? As tired as she was, she didn't believe she'd actually fall asleep; just rest her eyes. But either way, she couldn't expect him to just stand there.

"You should make yourself comfortable if I'm gonna make you stay," she said a bit guiltily. Without releasing his hand, she scooted herself to the right side of her bed to make room for him. She looked at him with a gentle smile. "Sit next to me."

Danny noted the way she sat, her back leaned against the large, square pillows that cushioned the back railing of the bed. It would be no different than sitting together on a couch, except their feet would be propped up on the bed.

Danny matched her smile before scooting himself onto the bed. He released her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her gently against his shoulder, intertwining his fingers with hers. He clasped their remaining hands together and placed them on his right leg and her left one that made their own lap as they were pressed together.

Sam relaxed against his shoulder like it was a pillow, closing her eyes as she squeezed his hands, a blissful smile on her face. Danny laid his cheek on her head, mimicking her smile as he inhaled her floral-berry scent, gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

A peaceful silence settled over the room as they relaxed into another moment where nothing in the world existed or mattered other than each other.

* * *

I doubt anyone reading this story is not a Danny/Sam fan, so I assume there are no complaints that the main focus of this chapter was fluff. Remember that this story is a romance, but the action is yet to come, I promise. The only reason there wasn't any in this chapter is that it was already becoming too long and there wouldn't be room to go any further. If I had, you'd have ended up stuck reading a thirty page chapter lol XD. Besides, I enjoy writing fluff. It makes me all fuzzy inside :).

Also, as a special for you true DxS fans, follow the link on my profile page if you wish to see a music video I've made and posted on YouTube. Enjoy :).

Chapter Playlist

Two Is Better Than One- Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift

Never Gonna Be Alone- Nickelback

I'd Come For You- Nickelback


	5. You Don't Have To Dream Anymore

Glancing at the clock, Danny found that he'd dozed for one half of an hour. He found it nearly impossible to stay awake, as being so close to Sam was the most unbelievably comfortable feeling he'd ever experienced. He'd only daydreamed about it countless times before, but he could now see that his imagination had never come even remotely close to creating the feeling of the real thing.

Their position had scarcely changed, the only differences being that their bodies had relaxed against each other and Danny's thumb had ceased its caressing motion, lying still on the back of Sam's hand. His gently drooping eyes turned down to check Sam's, finding that hers were still closed as she slept, her breathing soft and steady.

One side of Danny's mouth rose in a soft grin, the flame inside him burning with a gentle warmth, much the same as sitting close to a fireplace. He carefully tightened the grip his arm had around her shoulder, pulling her closer in a gentle hug, inhaling her unique scent as he breathed deeply through his nose. He loosened his hold after a few seconds, turning his eyes back down to watch her face. Her next breath came in a sigh, but she didn't wake.

As he watched her sleep, Danny briefly pondered his regret for waiting so long to admit his love for her in realizing they could have shared this experience much sooner if he had. But he dismissed the notion immediately; despite the heartache they'd both faced in delaying their confessions, Danny believed with all his heart that this was the way it was meant to be and couldn't have been better any other way.

Although he was perfectly content watching Sam sleep, Danny realized that the clock would soon be ticking into the evening hours and he'd yet to inform Tucker of his recovery. Not to mention he hadn't asked his parents' permission to stay out late.

Hoping to complete his short list of tasks without waking Sam, Danny slowly removed his hand from hers- reluctant to do so- and reached into his right jeans pocket and removed his cell phone. Before getting the chance to flip it open and dial a number, Sam began to stir. Her steady breathing pattern broke as she inhaled deeply, her grip tightening its hold on Danny's other hand, her newly freed hand clasping around the material of his pants leg as she groped for his other hand. Confused as to why she'd fallen asleep holding both his hands and now held only one, Sam's eyes flew open.

Danny flinched the way one does when they realize their attempt at stealth has failed. Sam's open eyes swiftly turned up to look at his face. He appeared calm, although a tad on edge, as if he was bracing himself. His eyes were tranquil but alive, like a soft breeze gently stirring small waves in the ocean.

Sam hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until she released it in a sigh of relief. He was still here. Her eyes strayed to his hand to see why it had let go of hers, finding that it was now holding his cell phone.

Watching Sam's slightly confused and startled expression, Danny asked, "Are you ok?"

Sam's eyes turned up to look at his upon his question. Her expression was blank for a moment as she attempted to blink the sleep from her eyes. A drowsy expression painted over her blank face as she said, "Yeah." She released her grip on his jeans and wiped one of her eyes with her pointer finger. "Sorry, I guess you just startled me."

A sweet, slightly amused half-grin replaced Danny's former expression. "Sorry." He set the phone down on the bed next to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug, releasing her other hand in the process.

Sam relaxed into the hug, gratefully placing her tired head against his chest as she closed her eyes. She wrapped one arm around his waist to return the hug, gripping the chest of his shirt with the other hand. His heart fluttered softly against her ear which coaxed a smile of her own. She knew she'd never tire of the sound, not ever; not as long as it continued to beat inside him. And she knew it always would, as she forbad it to ever cease.

Danny's half smile turned into a full one as he held her, her unique scent pulling him into a deeper state of euphoria. "Told you you were tired," he teased triumphantly.

Sam laughed a short, amused laugh. "I guess so," she admitted. She released his shirt and covered her mouth to stifle a yawn, further confirming his correct assumption. Danny chuckled fondly, kissing the top of Sam's head. Sam relaxed into him again when the yawn was over, dropping her hand into his lap. She opened her eyes, blinking multiple times to clear the water from them. "What were you doing?" she asked in a tired voice upon spotting his cell phone lying on the bed next to his leg.

"Calling Tucker," Danny answered, squeezing Sam a bit tighter as he laid his head atop hers. "I figured he's been left out of the loop long enough."

Sam nodded in affirmation of his first answer and agreement of his second. A pin of guilt pricked her mind as she realized she'd temporarily forgotten of their friend in her elation upon seeing Danny well again. She dismissed the feeling when she decided no fault would be found once they let him share in the good news.

With new tasks coming to attention, the last bits of sleep began to fade away. Needless to say she was reluctant to leave the vicinity of Danny's arms, but knew it would eventually be inevitable. No doubt she'd never leave if it wasn't required of her, but decided the sooner tasks were finished the sooner she could lie back in his embrace.

Sam leaned forward, pulling her knees up and leaning her elbow against them, pressing her forehead into the palm of her hand. Danny removed his arms from her shoulders in the same motion, his next heartbeat hard and painful with longing as he realized he was required to let go. He sat up straight in an almost involuntary motion, leaning forward so his chest was almost pressed against her back and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. It was all he could do to keep his heart from punching the inside of his chest so painfully.

After a failed attempt to stifle a yawn, Sam was a tad startled and concerned with Danny's behavior. She lifted her head and turned to look at him, inevitably closing the distance between their bodies as her back pressed itself against his chest. Their foreheads met as she turned her head and looked into his eyes, noses brushing softly against one another and both pairs of lips just a breath apart.

Both froze as they realized their position. Sam watched as a storm at sea raged in Danny's eyes, presenting the pain he'd felt as Sam leaned away from him just moments earlier. The harsh pulse of his heart she felt beating against her back matched this. No sooner had she pieced this together did the storm calm into frightened waves, heartbeat unchanged save for the quickened pace. He was already panic stricken as he found his face so dangerously close to hers, and it wasn't until his lips parted and his warm breath caressed hers did Sam's panicked expression match his.

Fear seemed irrational for two soul mates who'd already confessed their love and shared a kiss once before. But for those like Danny and Sam who stepped out of a lifelong relationship as friends and into one of eternal love that surpassed any other kind of love, the transition would be one that needed a little time to get used to.

Sam was unaware she'd stopped breathing until her lips parted and her lungs sucked in a sharp breath. She released it, mixing her breath with Danny's in the very small space between his lips and hers.

Both began breathing faster, pulses increasing as the air between them became warmer from their breath. Sam twisted around in the circle of Danny's arms so she was facing him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she slowly advanced forward, laying her body atop his which forced Danny to lie flat on his back. Danny let her advance on him, his head leaning against a pillow as his hands strayed to the small of her back. Her floral-berry scent was intoxicating, the heat between them strengthening the potency of the fragrance. The heat inside him was so incredibly intense he felt he'd simply burst into flames. Sam was entranced by the way the water churned in Danny's eyes. The waves were unrealistically tall and fast in his excitement.

Sam was the one to crack; she closed the very short distance between their lips and pressed hers against his.

Their first kiss had been sweet and simple, both of them shaken by nerves yet overflowing with love. This one was much different. It was still smothered with unconditional love, but there were no shaken nerves to hold it back; it was full of longing and passion. It was as if they'd been separated for an unbearable amount of time and they were sharing their elation in being reunited, neither holding anything back. Sam's body was tense, her arms closing in around his neck as she pressed her lips harder against his. Danny's hands were gentle as they pressed against the bare small of her back, caressing it slowly and tenderly. They moved their lips against one another's, passionately yet experimentally. Even with the kiss being love-driven, it was only the second one of their new relationship and practice was needed.

The steadily increasing euphoria of their kiss made breathing more and more difficult and both were forced to part their lips from one another, foreheads still pressed together as they opened their eyes and looked at each other, breathing heavily to catch their breath and slow their pulses. Both wore wide, matching smiles.

Danny continued panting, his smile stretching itself wider. "Now _that's_ my kind of wake up call."

Sam laughed, watching his eyes dance with amusement, the waves small and scattered. A blush colored her cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so forward."

Danny feigned confusion, lifting one eyebrow in question. "Since when is my Sam afraid to be forward about anything?" She'd had much more than her fair share of speaking out and rebellion against all that she believed was unjust or those who tried to take away her rights. One of his favorites was when she'd talked him and Tucker into helping her smuggle frogs doomed for dissection out of their school. He'd complained at the time, but was truly impressed by her strong-hearted nature.

Sam averted his eyes, looking down at his chest, the color on her cheeks deepening. "Well, this is a little different."

All humor left Danny's expression, a sincere smile painting his face. "I know." He tilted his head just enough to get Sam's attention, reverting her gaze back to his eyes. His smile widened. "It's ok."

A soft smile appeared on Sam's face. She lay her head back on his chest and hugged his neck. Danny quickly slid his arms up to Sam's shoulders and squeezed them in a returning hug.

In spite of how much they were enjoying their togetherness, an unspoken and mutual guilt began pressing down on them as they remembered the phone lying on the bed.

"Should I call or should you?" Danny asked, looking forward to seeing Tucker again but regretting that he would soon have to remove himself from their embrace.

Sam paused for a moment, considering both possibilities. Having Danny call instead of herself was winning out as she decided surprising Tucker would be best; she couldn't deny that she'd thoroughly enjoyed it when Danny had surprised her. One of her eyebrows rose and she bit her bottom lip in thought as she began enjoying this plot.

Finally decided, Sam lifted herself up on her arms, removing her head from his chest and looking into his face. Danny's arms remained on her shoulders as he looked back. A small smirk appeared on his lips as he recognized the sneaky, happy grin on her face.

His suspicions of her plotting were confirmed as she said, "I have an idea."

Danny smirk became a full smile.

Sam rolled off of Danny and onto the other side of the bed next to him into a sitting position and reached for her laptop that lay on the end table. She folded her legs toward herself to sit Indian-style as she laid the computer on the bed in front of her and opened it. Danny quickly hoisted himself up and scooted closer to her, matching her sitting style as he wrapped one arm around her waist and leaned his head in next to hers to see the computer. Both looked at each other briefly with wide smiles before looking back at the screen.

Once the computer woke from sleep mode, the display switching from a black screen to Sam's background picture of a werewolf howling at the moon in a foggy midnight cemetery, she double-clicked the icon to open her instant messenger and enabled the webcam. Once she saw Tucker's name as 'online,' (coming as no surprise to either of them) she looked at Danny briefly, failing her attempt to hide a smile of laughter as she said, "Disappear."

Danny paused for a moment before he caught onto her plan. A smile that matched hers disappeared along with the rest of him as he obeyed her order.

Once Sam sent Tucker the first message, those still visible were forced to unscrew their smile as a window with Tucker's face appeared on the screen.

"Hey Sam," Tucker said, waving at the screen. His slightly widened eyes and lifted eyebrows illustrated his surprise in seeing her online, rightly so as she hadn't been on since Danny fell ill. Once his initial shock was over, his eyebrows came down almost in a V of concern and his mouth upturned in a small, comforting smile as he attempted to be supportive and happy as he was unsure how to react to her log-on. "What's up?"

Seeing Tucker's caring and concerned face looking back at her, Sam suddenly felt a bit guilty. It wasn't until now that she realized how much Tucker had been there for her during Danny's illness. She'd been so crippled and blinded by her worry and sadness she'd been unappreciative of his uplifting behavior, and instead snapped at him for it earlier that day. And instead of complaining or being offended by her reaction, he carefully chose reassuring words to ease her feelings. And here she was, ready to scare the pants off of him instead of thanking him for his never wavering support. Despite Tucker's good sense of humor, she wasn't about to repay him with such a thankless act.

"Well…" she hesitated as she reconsidered her plans. She moved one of her hands away from the computer and onto the bed near Danny. To Tucker it looked like she was leaning on it, but she was carefully scooting it back in small motions, searching for Danny's leg. She only hoped Danny could see her change in mood and pick up on the new plan, but she needed some physical way to let him know without alerting Tucker. After moving her fingers backward a few times, she found his knee. She carefully put her fingers on it and squeezed tightly. Danny squeezed her shoulder in turn, unbeknownst to Sam that he had picked up on the sudden change in atmosphere and got the message.

As Sam's pause lengthened, Tucker's face gradually became concerned, but he said nothing. Finally, he saw a small grin appear on her face as she said, "I got some good news today."

"Really?" Tucker asked, ever playing the supportive friend as he grinned. "What was it?"

"I know I should have called you about it," she began, suddenly feeling like she had to explain herself, "But I was… busy." She couldn't think of a better excuse fast enough, but she wasn't about to tell Tucker what she had been doing as she wasn't comfortable, nor did she plan to ruin her attempt not to scare him. She hoped he didn't see the pink blush that suddenly flushed her cheeks.

"Psshh, that's ok," Tucker brushed it off easily. "You can tell me now."

Sam smiled, a combination of the good news she was about to give him and the appreciation of Tucker's attitude. "Danny recovered." Her smile doubled in size.

So did Tucker's eyes.

"REALLY!" He stood from his chair, placing his hands on the computer desk and staring at the screen. "When? I thought Jazz said he was still sick."

"He was when we talked to her," she explained. "But he's ok now."

"How do you know then?" Tucker asked, looking confused as his eyes returned to normal size.

Sam's smile didn't relent. "He told me."

Tucker's confusion multiplied. "Huh?"

Sam squeezed Danny's knee twice as a signal. Danny lifted the arm that wasn't holding onto Sam and reappeared, sitting next to Sam, smiling and waving. "Hey, Tuck."

Danny's sudden appearance startled Tucker. He tumbled backward, a high-pitched squeal bursting out of his mouth as he tumbled over the chair, falling onto his back with his elevated legs the only thing visible on Sam's computer screen.

Despite Danny and Sam's efforts, they'd scared Tucker anyway. And despite their further efforts, neither could suppress the fits of laughter that followed.

Once Tucker managed to collect himself and hoist himself back up, he again placed his hands on the computer desk to support himself, his heart racing as he panted and attempted to catch his breath. He stared into the computer screen to find Danny and Sam tangled together as they rolled around with laughter.

After taking a good ten seconds to let the initial burst of laughter leave their systems, Danny and Sam untangled themselves and sat the way they were before, the only differences being the giggles they failed to suppress and Sam attempting to hide her smiling face in Danny's chest.

"We're sorry," Sam said, lifting her head away from Danny and looking at Tucker through the screen, biting her lip in an attempt to stop smiling. "We didn't mean to scare you; we just wanted to surprise you."

By this time, Tucker had caught his breath and just stared into the screen, his mouth slightly ajar. He wasn't upset, but for some reason the transition of emotions from shocked to excited was taking it's time. "It's ok," he said sincerely. He exhaled heavily, shaking his head to regain himself. Once he looked back at the screen, there was a pause before he began smiling. Danny and Sam's laughter was fully over by now as they smiled back.

Tucker stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest, his smile widening. "It's about time, man." The couple on the screen could see the old Tucker was back and there were no hard feelings.

"I know," Danny said, scratching his head with his free hand guiltily. "I wish it hadn't taken so long."

"No worries, it wasn't your fault." Tucker assured. "We're just glad to have you back." Danny and Sam smiled.

It wasn't until now that Tucker noticed what he was looking at. He began noticing, piece by piece that something was different. Danny was at Sam's. In her room. On her bed. With his arm wrapped around her. He put the puzzle together when he looked at Sam's hand and found a teal-jeweled ring adorning her finger.

His jaw fell.

"NO WAY!"

Once Tucker finished celebrating Danny and Sam's new relationship, in which he began whooping and bounding around his room until he tripped over the chair he neglected to pick up, an explanation was due for all. Danny explained his plan to surprise them with his recovery and Sam with the ring by using Jazz as cover. Sam explained how she and Danny wanted to surprise Tucker and ended up scaring him by accident in the process. The explanations were short as all were too focused on the excitement of Danny's recovery. All agreed a movie night in Sam's basement theater was due, and Tucker came over right away. Danny finally called his parents to let them know the plans. Danny's mom reminded him of his promise to eat dinner and allowed him to stay after he said they were planning to order pizza.

It turned out to be quite a night. Tucker gave Danny a hug upon his arrival to Sam's before insisting on seeing the ring. He whistled, followed by a deep-throated, 'Nice.'

The movie was all but forgotten as Tucker endlessly commented on Danny and Sam. He prattled on about how they'd waited too long, how cute they looked, and how they never stopped touching each other. Rightly so as Danny and Sam hadn't let go of each other's hands until they sat on the couch, trading to a position where Sam leaned against Danny's chest and Danny had both arms wrapped around her.

Taking advantage of the Friday night, they stayed up until the morning hours, all too excited to stop their joyous celebration for something as trivial as sleep. Everything that went on during Danny's absence was shared between them. Tucker squealed every time Danny and Sam stole a kiss, no matter how quickly. They couldn't help themselves as they'd become fully comfortable with the change in relationship. It had come so easily, as there is no other way when soul mates are driven by true love. They were a perfect match.

Danny and Sam finally dozed together on the couch, Tucker sprawled across the second couch when the clocked crept toward five AM.

Half awake, Sam adjusted her cheek that lay on Danny's chest, gripping his shirt with the hand that wasn't wrapped around his waist. Danny's arms were still cradled around Sam's shoulders, his head leaning down on the top of her head. The thump-thump of his heart in her ear, his breath steady, each soft exhale blowing into her hair, the warmth of his body against hers… it was all real.

She didn't have to dream anymore.

Just before she fell asleep, Sam heard a familiar beep and cracked her eyes open. Tucker stood before her, pointing a camera in her direction. This time, a wide, happy smile painted his face instead of a fearful one.

Sam smiled, nodding her head. Tucker nodded back, walking back to the couch as he yawned.

I can only apologize for the extremely extended delay on this chapter and hope it hasn't cost me my readers. Thank you to those still interested in this story and I sincerely hope the hiatus hasn't reduced your interest. I've been extremely busy this past year with moving, job searching and getting married :). But I still want to keep the updates coming. I've spent much time on this story and still plan to finish it. Thanks so much for reading :).

I would like to specially dedicate this chapter to Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, and my Grandfather who just passed away this September. I love and miss you Grandpa.

_Chapter Playlist_

'Yours To Hold'- Skillet

'Don't Wake Me'- Skillet

'Two Is Better Than One'- Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift (A fitting song for Danny and Sam as well as the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding :).)


	6. When Things Seem Normal

Strange how going back to the usual 'everyday' could make one feel so out of place; almost like a twilight zone feeling. Danny couldn't seem to feel any other way when he returned to school Monday morning. Even after nine years of following the same school routine nearly every day, the walls of the school felt strange to look at after his near- death experience. It wasn't as if he'd never felt this way before; he'd missed more than his fair share of school days after being injured in ghost fights. But not all of them were as serious as the one he'd just been through. The only other incident equally as severe was the time he almost sacrificed himself by overusing the ecto-suit to seal the ghost king, Phariah Dark, away for good. But these two incidents were so far in between that returning to a normal routine felt surreal.

He knew he was ready to go back to his normal life. The weekend was an almost non-stop party as Danny, Sam and Tucker continued their celebration with movies, visits to the arcade and just plain goofiness. It was made especially fun by the fact that not a single ghost disturbed them the entire weekend. Danny felt as if he'd won the jackpot of luck.

Needless to say, the best prize of all was Sam.

Despite the strange twinge in his chest as he, Sam and Tucker, walked into the school hallway, Danny's heart was light and giddy. He and Sam walked next to each other, holding hands, both wearing unrelenting grins. They both periodically stole glances at each other, each time their smiles growing slightly wider.

When Tucker and Sam had stopped by Danny's house earlier that morning to meet him for school, the first thing the new couple did was hug each other tightly. Tucker didn't miss his chance to fuss over them, saying a very loud "AWWWWWWW!" all starry-eyed as if he were about to burst into tears. It was rather comical how much he was behaving like a giddy fan girl.

On their way to school, Danny and Sam confessed that neither had slept at all the night before. Ever since Danny's recovery, they spent the whole weekend at Sam's, including sleeping over in her theater basement. It wasn't until Sunday night that all their parents insisted they come home for the school night. Needless to say, this was difficult for them. As Danny prepared to leave that night, there was a great deal of hesitation. He stood in front of her on the front house steps, squeezing one of her hands in his. It felt as if their hands were literally glued together. They stared at each other, smiles completely nonexistent. _It's only until tomorrow_, they both tried to think. Sam couldn't seem to convince herself as she watched the rainstorm in Danny's eyes. The flame in Danny's chest was gone. In its place was a cold flicker.

Anyone else would have told them they were being childish. _It's only one night_.

But they knew better. Any amount of time apart was too much.

Neither was sure how they finally let go, but they somehow managed, and spent a sleepless night apart. And neither one of them could shake away their sorrow until they met the next morning.

Danny's locker being the closest to the school's entrance, the group of three stopped there first. They always visited their lockers together every morning, with the exception of one of them being absent or Danny being late because of a ghost emergency. Even though he'd been gone only a week, Danny felt like he'd been gone for months. He almost expected the school to have changed somehow, but everything was the same. After opening his locker with the hand that wasn't holding Sam's, he found the contents untouched; everything was organized the same way and the group picture of the three of them was still hanging on the inside of the door. That, and his surroundings, proved that the school was unchanged. He released Sam's hand in order to slip his backpack from his shoulders and pack it with a few of the books in his locker.

I gotta say, man," Tucker said as he waited, "It's good to have you back in more ways than one." He paused as he watched Danny close his bag and locker, slip the now full bag back onto his shoulders and grab Sam's hand quickly, squeezing it tightly. Sam looked at Danny and smiled brightly at this, Danny looking back with the same joyful smile. Tucker grinned widely at this; it was just impossible for them to tolerate having no contact for longer than necessary.

Removing his eyes from Sam's after some hesitation, Danny looked at Tucker. "Why's that?" Sam also turned her attention to Tucker, strengthening her grip on Danny's hand.

"Well, it's just good in general," Tucker started, "Plus, me and Sam don't have to be stuck fighting the ghosts." He sighed, shoulders slumping like he was tired, a whiny look on his face. "We had to stop two all by ourselves last week. TWO!" he emphasized loudly, showing two fingers. "What a pain!" he whined.

"Tucker," Sam started, rolling her eyes, "It was just an Ectopuss and The Box Ghost. I would hardly call those a chore."

Tucker lifted his hands in a shrug. "So? I'm too busy to deal with stuff like that." He folded his arms over his chest, trying to put on an important face and attitude. It was by this point that Danny and Sam knew he was exaggerating in an attempt to be funny. "I have a… a lot of homework."

Sam looked at him with a 'yeah, right' expression. "You don't do your homework."

Tucker abandoned his phony posture and scratched the back of his head, smiling like a guilty party trying to come up with a plausible excuse. "Well, uh…" He chuckled nervously, shaking his head and giving up. Danny and Sam rolled their eyes, but couldn't help but smile a little. Even though Tucker's comedy and tough attempts were irritating at times, they knew he was just being himself. Plus, he only acted that way when he was trying to lighten serious moods. Telling Danny how much he was glad to have him back must have felt a bit too serious so he attempted to hide it with something silly.

"Anyway," Tucker said, putting his hands back on his backpack straps, returning himself to normal, "I'm also glad because maybe, now that you're back, Dash will stop treating me like his personal bully machine."

Danny closed one eye in a wince, sighing a little. "Oh yeah." He'd been so distracted by his ecstasy of finally being with Sam that he'd forgotten all about the bully. His shoulders drooped a bit, a slightly sad look on his face. "I forgot all about him."

Tucker nodded, lifting his eyes to the ceiling, a blissful smile on his face as if he were dreaming about something. "How great it would be if he forgot about us."

Sam squeezed Danny's hand reassuringly, bringing his eyes to hers. "Ah, don't worry about it. Just remember that you're the one doing the right thing by not bullying him." Danny looked into her eyes, a soft smile appearing on his face. Her reassurance and her bright smile lit the flame in his chest, making his smile widen.

Tucker moved his eyes from the ceiling to look at Danny, lifting a finger. "But you could." He brought his finger down and made a fist. "You're tougher than him with your awesome ghost strength!" He smiled, creasing his brow like a villain plotting his revenge.

Danny and Sam returned their attention to Tucker. "Yeah, then I'd end up in detention as much as him," Danny responded. It was true that Dash caused enough ruckus and pulled enough pranks to get more than his fair share of detention. True that he got off the hook for most of them because a few teachers granted him special treatment for being the star of the football team, claiming that some of his pranks were too minor to grant detention, but despite that, he was still in detention at least once a week.

"So?" Tucker said as if it wasn't a problem. He seemed like he was still too excited about the idea of Danny using his powers to fight bullies and was trying to find a way around every problem that could stop it from happening. "You could get out by phasing through the wall."

"Without the teacher seeing?" Danny asked. He smiled a little, wondering what kind of straw Tucker was going to grab at now.

Tucker opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He folded his arms, closing one eye and lifting one side of his mouth thoughtfully. Danny and Sam looked at each other before looking back at Tucker, waiting for a response. About ten silent seconds went by before Tucker dropped his arms to his sides, sighing in defeat. Danny and Sam chuckled. "Nice try Tuck," Danny said, smiling. Tucker shrugged and followed Danny and Sam as they continued down the hall.

Tucker's locker was the next stop. He had a harder time retrieving his books than Danny, his locker being full of unfinished homework papers and soda cans. Sam scolded him every day for leaving it such a mess, but he always responded with the same line; 'It adds personality.' Once Tucker wrestled his books out of the mess and pick up a few cans that had fallen out, he closed it and they turned the corner to go to Sam's locker.

Sam's locker was, of course, organized. Although not agreeing with Tucker's definition of personality, Sam had her own way of decorating it. Papers and books had their own shelves, and she had two pictures hanging on the inside of the door. One was a small band photo of Evanescence, and above that was the same picture that Danny had in his locker, except hers had a dark wooden frame. Tucker usually had the same one in his too, but neither had seen it this time, meaning it had fallen off again.

"See how much easier it is?" Sam said as she pulled a few books out and transferred them to her spider backpack. She moved a bit quicker than usual, anxious to hold Danny's hand again. "I can get my stuff without having a landfill fall on top of me." Danny snorted, pursing his lips to keep from laughing harder.

"Ha ha," Tucker said sarcastically. "If I spend my time cleaning out my locker in the morning, I won't get to sleep in."

Done gathering her books, Sam slipped her bag back on and turned to face Tucker, reaching for Danny's hand, squeezing it tightly. Her eyebrow rose in confusion. "What? But it would only take you five minutes."

"Exactly!" Tucker said as if it were obvious. Danny and Sam looked at each other, brows creased in confusion. They could never understand how he tried to make sense out of such silly things.

Just then, they were interrupted by a voice from someone coming around the corner. All eyes turned in that direction and all sighed in annoyance as they saw who the voice belonged to.

"Hey, Fenturd!" Dash taunted as he walked toward them. He stopped next to Tucker, appearing intimidating with his daunting grin and bulk. His football physique was obvious, well sculpted muscles on his arms and wide chest, and was noticeably taller than all three of them. He looked at Danny, cracking his knuckles loudly. "Where've ya been?"

Danny sighed like he was bored. It was always the same routine. Apparently, the school wasn't the only thing that hadn't changed.

Sam frowned deeply, clenching a fist and squeezing Danny's hand hard in anger. "Leave him alone, Dash," she threatened. It was already barely tolerable when he picked on Danny, but she had just gotten him back after worrying for a week. It made her feel even more protective than usual.

"Yeah!" Tucker joined, brows creasing as he tried to appear tough. He truly did want to stop Dash from bullying Danny, feeling it was unfair that Danny had to spend a week in bed, then be picked on immediately after returning to school.

Dash's smile vanished, his brow creasing. He wasn't used to such fierce resisting, especially from two people at once. "What is this, Nerds United?" He then grabbed Tucker and pushed him into Sam's locker that she had neglected to close. Tucker yelped as Dash closed it.

"Knock it off, Dash," Danny said, frowning in irritation. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

"Here's another reason I don't clean my locker," Tucker's muffled voice said through the locker door. "There's no room for Dash to shove me into it!"

"What?" Dash shrugged, reaching out to grab the shoulder of Danny's shirt. "It's nice and cozy in there. He can take a nap." He tugged on Danny's shirt, trying to pull him forward. "You're overdo for a swirly."

Sam always wanted to do something about it when Dash harassed Danny. She never did because she knew she wasn't physically strong enough to stop him. In the end, she had to convince herself that it wasn't a big deal; Dash never hurt Danny. At least, not that bad.

But somehow, this time, she felt like she couldn't let it happen anymore. She'd sat back long enough just because she knew she couldn't stop him. But she felt a heat rising in her chest, an anger that made her heart race. She just had to stop him. Losing her better judgment, she took a step forward and kicked Dash's leg with one of her massive boots. Despite being unaware of what she was doing due to her anger, she had enough sense to know one of her heavy boots would do more damage than one of her small fists.

"OWW!" Dash yelped, releasing Danny's shirt. He reached down to grab his shin, eyes shut tight in a wince.

It wasn't until then that Sam realized what she did. Her anger melted away and her frown traded places with eyes wide in surprise. Danny ignored the whimpering Dash to look at Sam with the same expression. Although half his mind was extremely proud of her, the other half couldn't believe she actually did it.

Dash straightened up, no longer wincing, eyebrows creased and teeth clenched angrily. Needless to say, he was shocked at her behavior and wasn't tolerating it very well.

"What's your problem!" he snapped, reaching forward and shoving her shoulder hard. Sam stumbled backwards and would have fallen if she hadn't been holding Danny's hand. Danny automatically reached his other hand out to catch her by grabbing her other arm and pulling her back over to him. He looked at her and saw her shocked and slightly frightened expression. This was surprising as Dash didn't usually resort to physical violence, especially against a girl.

Danny's mood changed in a flash. Although it was only a push, Danny's anger flared like Dash had hit her. His chest and face became hot and he clenched his teeth. He was unable to tolerate anything that threatened Sam, no matter how minor.

Dash was only irritated by Sam's behavior and had no intention of changing his plan to harass Danny. He grabbed the shoulder of Danny's shirt again and pulled.

Danny's fighting instincts kicked in as if he'd been thrust into a battle with a ghost. He turned sharply, pulling his shirt out of Dash's grasp and reached for Dash's wrist. He gripped it tightly then turned his arm, twisting Dash's hand upward in a lock. His eyes flashed green. He was glad he remembered not to use his full strength; otherwise he would have broken it.

"AH!" Dash yelped. He stared at Danny in shock, all of his threatening manner gone. One eye was closed in a pained wince, slight fear coloring his features. He was completely taken aback by Danny's strength; he felt that anymore pressure would snap his wrist. By now, the students passing by had noticed and stopped to watch. It was silent in that part of the hallway.

Danny stared up at Dash's face, heart racing as he panted through gritted teeth. He didn't want to go too far, but he was still too angry to release his grip. He couldn't deny he was enjoying Dash's fearful expression. He tried to calm himself as the silent students continued to watch.

After a few suspenseful moments, Danny glared at Dash, turning his hand just a bit to twist Dash's wrist further, in which Dash winced. "Leave us alone," he said flatly, then let go.

Dash took a step back, rubbing his aching wrist with his other hand. He stared at Danny, still in shock that he'd had enough strength to do such a thing. Without turning his head, he shifted his eyes slightly to glance at the circle of students that stared at him silently. He wasn't about to appear as one who'd been bested by a nerd, so he dropped his hands to his sides, abandoning his pained expression for an indifferent one. He pretended to look bored of the situation before saying in an uninterested tone, "I'll get you next time." He turned and walked away, students stepping aside and staring as he sauntered down the hall.

Danny and Sam stood and watched as well. The shock of the moment and the deafening silence put everyone in a sort of trance. It didn't break until Dash turned the corner and out of sight. Only then did the hall begin to echo with whispers as students looked at either each other or Danny. The conversations steadily grew louder until they were at normal volume, but no one conversation could be picked out of the sea of voices.

Danny ignored everyone and went to Sam, putting one arm around her waist, looking her in the face. "You okay?" he asked her. He was back to normal, a serene look on his face and a calm shine in his eyes. Sam also moved her eyes from the students, who gradually began walking away, still chatting about what they had seen. She looked into Danny's calm eyes before saying, "Yeah, of course."

"I'm sorry," Danny said, a guilty expression on his face. "I know I over-reacted." He only just realized that the scene he'd just created was unnecessary. True that his need to protect Sam was something he couldn't control, but it wasn't as if he was protecting her from a ghost; it was just Dash. And it was only a push, no real violence involved. He feared she'd be cross with him for embarrassing her.

"It's ok," Sam reassured him, shaking her head slightly. She brushed some hair behind her ear with her fingers, looking embarrassed. "I over-reacted too." She thought back to her actions and rolled her eyes at herself, shaking her head. She acted out of instinct in the heat of the moment and didn't realize until just now how girly it had been. True that her hefty boots surely would leave a large bruise on Dash's leg, but in her mind, kicking a guy was just such a helpless female act.

Danny shook his head, but for a different reason. He smiled and some of Sam's embarrassment melted away as she saw slow moving waves flowing in the light of Danny's eyes. "Actually, I was pretty impressed." His smile widened. "I bet Dash learned that girls can fight too."

Sam smiled softly, her embarrassment fading completely. "Well, I hope next time I can use something less girly than my boot."

Danny's eyebrows rose skeptically. "What's so girly about boots?"

"It's not so much the boot as it's kicking him with it," she explained.

Danny had to pause for a moment before answering, "Ah, I see."

There was another pause, where both stared at each other silently. Only as few seconds passed before both began laughing at the strange end to their conversation.

They both turned their heads when a muffled voice echoed through the locker vent beside them. "I'm glad your having fun, cause I'm sure not in this locker!"

The rest of the day went by routinely. During the classes that Danny and Sam had together, they found themselves stealing more glances at one another than they used to. Funny how two teens glancing at each other during class instead of listening to their teacher's lecture would seem like a clichéd crush to an onlooker. Little would they know that this was no such thing; these were the acts of two people truly in love.

Despite this being his first day in school for over a week, the end of the day bell was music to Danny's ears. He miraculously had very little homework as Sam and Tucker (mostly Sam) had done his homework during the week he was sick, telling the teachers they'd bring it to him and bring it back once he'd finished it. It wasn't like it was the first time this sort of thing had happened; ghosts sometimes liked to attack when Danny would otherwise have been in class.

Danny, Sam and Tucker walked casually down the sidewalk, Danny and Sam hand in hand. The couple was amazed how the intense sense of euphoria over something as simple as holding hands never faded. They walked close to one another, conversing where to go and when to get their homework done.

While Sam was once again trying to force Tucker to cease his whining about schoolwork, Danny stopped in his tracks as a cold, familiar tendril of breath rolled out of his lips.

Danny's sudden halt caused a chain reaction where Sam was forced to stop when she felt a small jerk on the hand that was holding Danny's and Tucker stopped when he noticed the two were no longer walking. Sam and Tucker went silent, turning their heads to look at Danny in time to see the last of his cool breath dissipate into the air.

Like an old habit, all three moods changed automatically as they searched for the ghost. Sam moved closer to Danny, eyes scanning the sidewalks and passing cars as she searched. Danny tensed up, his grip on Sam's hand tightening protectively as his back bent ever so slightly in preparation for an encounter. Tucker turned his head in every direction quickly, looking up to check the partly cloudy sky for signs of a ghost.

Over the sounds of the passing cars and gentle breeze, all three sets of ears picked up the low, unemotional voice that came from behind them.

"Danny Phantom."

Startled, they all spun around, Danny pulling Sam behind him without letting go of her hand, crouching down slightly in a fighting stance and shielding both his friends with a raised arm. Down the long alley they now faced was one of the Observants, the upholders of the law in the ghost world.

Danny held his protective stance, watching the ghost closely. He knew little of these ghosts, only that they had control over ghost laws and, having encountered them only briefly on one or two instances, had yet to figure out if they were friend or foe.

The one, very large eye in the middle of the bald, green domed head blinked in their direction. An arm rose up from the very thin, black-cloaked body. The hand faced upward, the pointer finger pointing skyward as it moved back and forth in a motion telling them to come over.

Danny remained where he stood, quickly trying to decide what to do. He was puzzled by the ghost's actions. Could this ghost be beckoning them to the back of an alley to hide themselves as they conversed something Danny had yet to know, or was it a trap to lure them in a tight space for an attack?

Danny weighed his options as the ghost continued to motion them forward with his unnaturally thin finger. Since Danny had no memory of these ghosts ever attacking anyone in the human world, he made his decision.

"Wait here," Danny said to Sam and Tucker without turning around. He took a step forward and tried to let go of Sam's hand, only to be stopped by her fierce grip that wouldn't allow him to let go. "Not happening," Sam said flatly.

"No way, dude," Tucker said, sharing Sam's serious tone.

Danny only hesitated a moment before he gave in, deciding he should have known better than to expect them to stay while he entered an alley alone to speak to a ghost with unknown intentions.

"Ok, but stay behind me," he said. Sam and Tucker nodded, and all three began forward. Sam moved in closer to Danny, almost touching his back as they entered the alley. As soon as he was hidden between the alley walls, Danny altered to his ghost form in case his powers were needed.

The Observant waited motionlessly for them at the very end of the ally. The three stopped with a ten foot gap between them and the ghost. They stood silently, Danny resuming his protective stance as they waited.

The Observant put his hands together and nodded his dome of a head. "Greetings," he began in a deep, unemotional voice. "I bring a brief message for Danny Phantom."

Danny became less tense without wavering his guard. It so far appeared that the ghost really did just want to talk. "Yes?"

The Observants large eye blinked, staring at him without emotion. "Clockwork wishes to speak with you on an important matter."

The name surprised Danny; his guard went down considerably as he felt less threatened than before. Clockwork; the watcher of time that he once believed to be an enemy before proving otherwise by saving everyone Danny cared for. It had been a while since he'd heard that name. Why was it coming up now?

Danny straightened his posture, no longer feeling a threat from the observant. His brow furrowed in confusion and curiosity as he looked at the ghost. "About what?"

The Observant lifted a hand, shaking his head. "You must speak to Clockwork. Immediately, and alone."

Alone? Why?

Questions began buzzing in Danny's head. This completely unexpected and unexplained request was piquing his curiosity and concern. Only an emergency would cause such a sudden and urgent request. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it could be.

Danny nodded, slight concern coloring his features. "Thank you. I'll meet with Clockwork soon."

The Observant nodded in return before floating upward and disappearing from sight.

Danny turned to face Sam and Tucker who shared his expressions of confusion and concern.

"I wonder what that was about?" Tucker said, his eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully.

"I don't know," Danny said as he released Sam's hand and slipped his backpack off his shoulders, "But I don't think I should wait to find out." Sam took his bag as he offered it to her. She looked up at his face, worry covering hers. Even when not knowing what the meeting was about, she had a bad feeling. It didn't help that he was told to come alone.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised. Sam watched the light in his eyes mix and flash in strange ways. He was confused, just as she was.

Danny leaned down and pressed his lips onto hers, in which she eagerly returned the kiss. She didn't know why she was acting like something had already gone wrong; but she couldn't shake the feeling that her pounding heart was giving her. Something was wrong, she was sure of it.

After moving himself away from Sam, Danny looked at her and smiled reassuringly. "See you soon," he said to both of them. Both nodded uncertainly.

Questions and possibilities filled Danny's head as he leapt into the air and flew in the same direction the Observant had. No matter the ideas that came to his head, he couldn't think of anything Clockwork could possibly be calling him for.

Having no idea would certainly make it all much more of a surprise when he arrived.

_Another long delay, and another apology. Glad to know there are still those interested in this story. Without that, I wouldn't still be writing it. I hope to be picking up the pace in the next chapter and hope you read it :)._

_Chapter Playlist_

_'Shadows'- Red_

_Don't remember the rest of the list XD._


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